57 As they
(Jesus and his disciples) were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I
will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but
the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another
man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my
father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead,
but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Still another said,
“I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my
family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and
looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:57-62)
To the
seasoned Christian and new convert alike Jesus is pretty straight forward about
what it looks like in everyday life to be his follower. Each individual who
wanted to join Jesus had to wrestle with
their priorities. Each man had good things to be concerned with, having a place
to sleep, a burying his father, and saying good-bye to close family. Yet when
it came to following Jesus those answers would not do. The reason found in a
couple little words that creep in to their response to Jesus, “I’ll follow you but first let me…” They were saying, “Jesus
you’re important but not that important. You can fit into my life at best in second
place.” Would our answer to following Jesus be different?
Jesus says to
us, “follow me”. “I want a relationship with you. I want you to listen to me
and talk to me.” Honestly, most often I’ll bet we sound something like, “I’d
love to God. I want to follow you, it’s just. I don’t have the background. I
want to “but first” I’ve got to drive the kids to the next event. I don’t have
the time right now. God I know I can talk to you all the time and you speak to
me through the Bible but I’ve had a hard day at work, first I need to watch TV
for a couple hours.” But first I need
too… the phrase that jumps in and shows misaligned priorities. To one
degree or another I think we are all guilty of this. I know I am. It’s not that
we aren’t busy doing good things, taking care of niceties for our families or
ourselves but too often these other things take the primary place of Jesus in
our life. It is as if God is good and I keep him part of my life as long as he
doesn’t get in the way of my wish, wants and desires.
Jesus’ takes
issue with the “but firsts” of our life and basically says, “No, no, if you will follow me then you must follow
me, period. I am God and must be that in your life.” If anyone deserves first
place it would be God and it is right that he would demand it. But there is
another reason he wants it. When he’s not first in our life the one missing out
the most is us.
When Jesus is
number one it changes everything. How we carry ourselves, our self-worth, and
our value in Jesus is based not on past mistakes but on his Words and promise. Why
do I matter? God says, “This is love: not that we loved God (Him), but that he loved us and
sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Instead
of focusing on who or what I am or am not my identity is based on who God says
he is and what he has said he has done. I matter because I am “one who is loved”
or as God puts it elsewhere in the Bible, “beloved”.
This is why
we regularly remind partners at the end of sermons: You matter and are loved.
God has placed such a high value on you and your soul not only in the unique
way he has made you but also in the unique way he has saved you. His only Son took
your place. I think we can forget the “but firsts” of an overly busy life and relax
by just listening to our God in the Bible and praying to him from the heart. Take
Jesus words to heart and follow Him.
How are you
going to connect with Jesus this week?
-Pastor Eric Hansen, Discipleship Pastor
I remind myself of that saying, "but first I must." at least once a week, when I know just doing is better than finding an excuse not to.
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