Follow Him First

He said to another man, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:59-60 NIV)


Many teachings of Jesus are challenging.  This one was probably one of the most challenging for me over the years.


Family has always been important to me.  I was one of the rare minority who actually enjoyed a good relationship with my parents.  I liked spending time with them.  When we lived in the same city, Traci and I would spend time with both sets of parents almost every weekend.  We would eat together, play cards together, vacation together, and even remodel old houses together.  Family is important.  Parents, for us, are a blessing.


It was difficult, then, to read passages like this.  Essentially, the man speaking to Jesus is saying, "I will follow you when I don't have parents to care for.  They need to come first."  Jesus replies, "No, I come first."


So, what should I do?  Drop my parents and walk away from them?  No.  That's not what he's saying at all.


Like so many other areas of life, Jesus is simply telling us the priority system we need to have in place.  Follow Jesus first.  When you do, you will obey your parents when you are young and honor them when you are older.  Why?  Because God said so.  


What if my parents tell me to do something God tells us not to do?  Simple.  Follow Him first.  People are imperfect.  God is not.  


When any person asks us to do something that God tells us not to do, God wins.  By the way, so do we and the people around us.  By following Him first, our co-workers, our friends, our family, and even our parents will get to see just how good His design is for our lives.  Maybe...just maybe...they will want to follow Him, too.


What about you?  Do you follow Him first?  Are you "all in?"