God comes first

Tuesday November 9

Today’s gospel reading (Luke 14:25-35) is a difficult one for me. In it Jesus says “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” It’s one of those quotes from Jesus that I would just as soon pass over and forget, or excuse it as an error in translation. But I remember preaching on this same verse several months ago, and at that time I was inspired to point out that what Jesus was saying is that God has to be first in our lives, before mother, father, wife and children. Of course these relationships are very important, but they all derived their meaning from our relationship to God first. Where does our love and sacrifice come from that we experience with those around us. Isn’t Jesus the best example of agape love? As a disciple of Jesus, he provides the model for how I should be living my life. So, loving God comes first, and through that relationship the love I receive is then available to give to the others I encounter daily in my life.

“Love is the answer” . . .God’s love for us comes before anything else.