First Priority: Following : Luke 9:59-60 : What Jesus Did! : HEARTLIGHT®

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First Priority: Following - Luke 9:59-60

Jesus said to another man, "Follow me!" But the man said, "Lord, let me go and bury my father first." But Jesus said to him, "Let the people that are dead bury their own dead! You must go and tell about the kingdom of God." (ERV) Full Text

Key Thought

Following Christ is our first priority. Nothing should stand in our way. Does that mean abandoning our responsibility to our families? Certainly not! God makes clear that how we live in our families is crucial to our discipleship and to our leadership. However, we so often use family concerns to be excuses for not following rather than reconciling family matters with Kingdom values and priorities. Jesus must come first. God and his Kingdom must be THE priority in our families. Our families must see honoring God as the primary value lived out in our own personal lives.

Today's Prayer

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Give me wisdom, O God, to make you and your Kingdom THE primary value of my home. Help me demonstrate your compassion and your holy character in my interactions with my loved ones. Help them see me as loyal, faithful, and supportive of them while knowing that my heart's first allegiance is to you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Today's Verses in Context

The time was coming near when Jesus would leave and go back to heaven. He decided to go to Jerusalem. Jesus sent some men ahead of him. The men went into a town in Samaria to make everything ready for Jesus. But the people there would not welcome Jesus because he was going toward Jerusalem. James and John, the followers of Jesus, saw this. They said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy those people?" But Jesus turned and scolded them. Then Jesus and his followers went to another town. They were all traveling along the road. Someone said to Jesus, "I will follow you any place you go." Jesus answered, "The foxes have holes to live in. The birds have nests to live in. But the Son of Man has no place where he can rest his head." Jesus said to another man, "Follow me!" But the man said, "Lord, let me go and bury my father first." But Jesus said to him, "Let the people that are dead bury their own dead! You must go and tell about the kingdom of God." Another man said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to my family." Jesus said, "If any person begins to plow a field, but looks back, he is not prepared for the kingdom of God."

— Luke 9:51-62 (ERV)

Comments on "First Priority: Following":

A person should take care of all his own people. Most important, he should take care of his own family. If a person does not do that, then he does not accept the {true} faith (teaching). That person is worse than a person who does not believe. —1 Timothy 5:8 (ERV)

"Any person that loves his father or mother more than he loves me is not good enough to follow me. Any person who loves his son or daughter more than he loves me is not good enough to follow me. —Matthew 10:37 (ERV)

Children, obey your parents the way the Lord wants. That is the right thing to do. The command says, "You must honor (respect) your father and mother." That is the first command that has a promise with it. That promise is: "Then everything will be fine with you. And you will have a long life on the earth." Fathers, don't make your children angry. But raise your children with the training and teaching of the Lord. —Ephesians 6:1-4 (ERV)