Jesus first over family. How many people hide behind their families as an excuse for not following Jesus. People say they do not want to upset their children or put undo stress on a spouse or leave aging parents.
Jesus calls for the opposite response in Luke 9:57-62. Obedience and allegiance to Jesus is to be first even over allegiance to family. It is one thing to SAY you want to follow Jesus. It is an entirely different matter to actually follow through. It is not easy and often not comfortable to follow Jesus. Just ask William Carey, Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone, Watchman Nee, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They all paid a dear price for following Jesus.
But they did follow even with it proved costly! Some of these lost spouses and children as they submitted and obeyed. They still followed. Some lost their lives. They stayed faithful to the end.
Do we think Jesus only meant these challenging words for those folks. What about us. I recall all too well each time I had to sit the boys down and tell them God was calling us to follow Him and move just like He did the disciples in Matt 4:18-22. Their tears were real. My wife's tears did not subside for some time. Their questions were hard and their confusion lingered. They grieved. I grieved. I still grieve the loss of flocks from the past. I still question God as to why sometimes. I still shed tears from time to time. We still followed.
Jesus first even over family. Listen. Submit. Obey. Follow. This is the way of a follower of Christ.
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