First Things First

 

First things first.

 

We live our lives with a hierarchy of priority.  We are constantly making value based decisions; what is more important, what is more urgent, what of these two hold priority of first place in my life.

 

I do it with my weekly lists of To-Do's all the time.  Maybe you can relate.  I get to the end of my week and notice tasks or projects from day one are still circled and ready to be done, but tasks and projects from day five or six or seven are crossed out and complete.  What happened there? 

 

What is easy and quick? 

What can I strike off the list with little extra effort? 

What takes the least amount of time? 

What will benefit me most? 

 

Can we be honest with each other?  Aren’t these often the metrics we use to prioritize?  Generally speaking we like the path of least resistance and the road of personal success.

 

First things first.

 

We’re barely down the road with Jesus on his journey from Galilee to Jerusalem in Luke 9 to 19 and Jesus has other plans.  Time to check priorities.  A band of boys decides to tag along.  "Follow me" is the command.  Not even really an ask, but a tell. 

 

“First let me go ___________...”  You fill in your own blank there.  Go where and for what?

 

One guy in the gospels wants first to go bury his father (Luke 9:59).  Study notes and commentaries will talk up cultural insights and how it's all about waiting for his father to finally die so he can rake in his inheritance and supposedly pad his own retirement; buy a place on easy street, right?  The text doesn’t say all that though.  Really all we get from the text is something – anything – was in priority of first place instead of Jesus.

 

Another guy – next guy in line, no less, who ought to have just overheard the last interchange – wants first to run back home and say his goodbyes (Luke 9:61).  Makes sense, right?  He wants to make sure his folks know where he’s at, and while he’s home maybe tuck a few things into his tunic for the journey.  Of course here to, the text doesn’t point out all the details and reasons.  Really all we get again from the text is something – anything – was in priority of first place instead of Jesus.

 

In both cases devotion waned from the first greeting.  Jesus sets the bar high.  We’ll see this more clearing later in this journey with Jesus to Jerusalem.  Here though, outta the gate, following Jesus is no picnic.  His home is not of this world because he is not of this world.

 

“Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”  (Luke 9:58, CSB throughout)

 

Maybe you’ve encountered this context before, maybe not, but do you wonder if these guys actually ended up following Jesus?  I do. 

 

I wonder if the one guy was like:  Yeah, you’re right Jesus.  The rest of my siblings can wait around hovering over Dad’s estate.  I want to live with you; like you!  Here we go!

 

I wonder if the other guy was like:  You know, reality is, after a couple weeks they won’t even miss me.  I’ll drop ‘em a post card from Jerusalem.  Straight ahead Jesus.  No looking back.  Let’s go!

 

I wonder if I would have followed?  I mean, I am following Jesus now; but back then, in that moment, when the cost was steep.  I wonder if I would have put Jesus in priority of first place; dropped everything and followed?  Would you?

 

First things first.

 

“Jesus is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn over all creation.

For everything was created by him,

in heaven and on earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions

or rulers or authorities –

all things have been created through him and for him. 

He is before all things,

and by him all things hold together. 

He is also the head of the body, the church;

he is the beginning,

the firstborn from the dead,

so that he might come to have

first place in everything. 

 

See that.  First things first.

 

For God was pleased to have

all the fullness dwell in him,

and through him to reconcile

everything to himself,

whether things on earth or things in heaven,

by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  (Colossians 1:15-20, emphasis mine)

 

All that first-ness.  Is he first in this life I live?  Is he first in this life you live?  Will you throw off all that hinders?  The dead can bury themselves, right?  Will you follow Jesus with a laser focused single-minded pursuit that refuses to look back and risk veering off course?  Would you believe me if I told you it’ll be worth it in the end?