Jesus must be #1

Reference: Luke 14:16-35

Luk 14:16  And He said to him, A certain man made a great supper and invited many. 17  And he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready. 18  And all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, I must go and see it. I beg you, have me excused. 19  And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I beg you, have me excused. 20  And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21  And coming up that servant reported these things to his lord. And the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed, and the lame and the blind. 22  And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and still there is room. 23  And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24  For I say to you that none of these men who were invited shall taste of my supper. 

As children of God, we must always be ready to answer God's calling. When God tells us to do something, he doesnt expect us to say, "Oh, i'll do that after im done doing this... ". Likewise when God convicts us of something, he expects us to respond to that conviction. It angers God when we make excuses, or say stuff like, "God, I'll give up my sinful behaviour, just let me sleep with this girl one last time." We must be ready for God at all times. God will accept no other place but number one in our lives, and when other things are more pressing to us than God's calling, it is unacceptable to God. Yes, God is forgiving. Yes, Jesus always has open arms to us. But if God isn't number one in our lives, then he's not there at all. This is exactly what Jesus says to us in the next verse:

Luk 14:26  If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 

Jesus doesnt want us to hate our loved ones, and even our own lives. He just wants us to hold them to no account compared to him. No competition!

Giving it up for God

God has a calling for each and every one of us. For some of us, that calling is to leave everything that we know, and follow God. Whether that means going on a mission, or just taking a job in a town that is farther away, its going to be uncomfortable leaving freinds and family on what just seems like.. a feeling. But what does Jesus have to say about this?

Mar 10:29  And Jesus answered and said, "Truly I say to you, There is no man that has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospel's sake, 

30  but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life. "

So, what this means is, not only will we have a reward in heaven for leaving behind everything we know, we will be blessed with a multiplicity of new family and freinds, and he even goes so far as to say that we will have house and lands. God is Good indeed!

The lesson learned, though, is that we never need to be afraid of giving things up for the will of God!