‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ But Yeshua said to him, ‘Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’ Matthew 8:21-22 (NKJV)
This is a hard teaching! Yeshua is saying that following Him should take priority even over burying your own father! Commitment and dedication are the issues at stake here; in fact, these principles are two of the key priorities for any believer. It is easy to say, ‘I believe in Yeshua’, but are you prepared to pay the cost of following Him? Sadly, often the real answer is ‘no’. Changing a sinful lifestyle for a righteous one is a challenge in itself, but you are called to even more than that: to reach out to those who don’t yet know Yeshua, with love and compassion; to make the lifestyle of Yeshua your own; to put Him first in every situation. This is a hard calling – often you may feel that you are too busy, or tired, or have other things to do. However, your responses reveal the depth of your commitment to your faith. Yeshua is challenging you to put Him first; to make Him the number one priority in your life; not just in the small things, but the large issues too. Of course Yeshua is not meaning that we shouldn’t show love and respect to your family, but rather that you must assess your life, and seek Him above all things. Yeshua put obedience, commitment and dedication to His Father’s will, above all else; above even His own life. He didn’t count the cost – the persecution, the misunderstanding, the pain, the betrayal, the cross – as too high a price to pay. He willingly laid down His life as a sacrifice for you. Will you lay down your life as a sacrifice for Him, no matter what the cost?