When I used to farm with my father, we did the first things first. First, we cut the trees and bushes. Then we burnt them. Next, we cleared the wastes and prepared the ground for planting. Whatever you do, you do the first things first, followed by the next. For example, going to church is the Number 2, not the Number 1. Going to church is good. The prayer, the Bible studies, the sermon, the singing, the offering, the fellowship. They are all good. But being in church is Number 2, not Number 1. “Lord, Lord!” The Lord Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Those who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ are church-goers who have not done the first thing. No matter how committed you are at church, failing to do the first thing will be like saying “Lord, Lord” and missing the kingdom of God. According to the Lord Jesus, those who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do the will of the Father. So what is the will of the father? Jesus said, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:39). The first thing: Therefore the first thing is to believe in Jesus as your Saviour. This means: believe that he is the Son of God; believe that God sent him into the world to die for us. His death paid the price for our salvation. Believe and accept him as your personal Saviour. That is the will of God. Again, what is the first thing to do? Going to church? No! Doing good and living a good life? No! The first thing to do is what Jesus said—“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). To seek first the kingdom of God is to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour first, before anything else. He saved me: When I was a teenager in church, we prayed, read the Bible, sang, and tried to do good. But I was still walking in darkness. I didn’t know Jesus personally until at the age of nineteen. That was when someone in our church told me about doing the first thing first. I was in church but I didn’t know Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I felt sorry for my sins. I asked Jesus to forgive me and come into my life. From that day, I knew Jesus had saved my life. He came into my life and made me a new person. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Accept Jesus: Failing to accept Jesus first has led many people to be in church and yet do not know him. “Lord, Lord!” they say, but they have no salvation because they have not received Jesus as Lord. If you are already in church, you need to do Sankofa. And our Ghanaian proverb says Sankofa is not a taboo. Simply admit that you are a sinner, ask the Lord to forgive you, and invite Jesus to come into your life. Then continue to serve the Lord in church as a born-again person.