Week 19 – “Let Me 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.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.””

Luke 9:59-62 NIV

The summer of 2025 was winding down, and my schedule was about to ramp up again. Graduate classes were starting soon, ministry work was about to go into full swing, and I still had the daily tasks of running a household. I had a loose plan for the next few months, and things were going well. Then God asked me to stretch myself and accept an invitation to teach a 9-week Bible study. Hmm. That wasn’t part of the plan, Lord, but I said yes. I knew it was a God-yes because He had already had me prepare what I was going to teach long before I was asked. Even with a yes response to God’s prompting, there was a cost. As I plowed through the semester studying for exams, preparing weekly Bible study lessons, writing blogs, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, and all the rest, I had to say no to many things I wanted to do in order to do what God called me to do. He asked me to follow Him into service, and I said yes. My yes didn’t mean it would be easy; it meant He would be with me and equip me for the work He called me to.

In Luke 9:59-62, Jesus asks two people to follow Him, and they tell Him what prevented them from following Him immediately, as if He didn’t already know. The first man says he needed to go prepare his father to die, and the second man says he needed to say goodbye to his family. Wow! That sounds harsh! Jesus was seeing where their devotion was, like He did when He asked Abraham to sacrifice the life of his only son, Isaac.

When Jesus asks us to join Him in His kingdom-building work, our minds automatically start calculating whether what He’s asking fits into our plans. We would have no plans to make without God’s grace, yet when He asks us to put Him first, we hesitate and then TELL HIM what we need to do first? 

My friend, when Jesus calls us to Him and His work, He is looking for our full surrender, expressed in saying yes, Lord, I will follow You, which means trusting Him with the earthly things we think will be left undone if we don’t do them. When Jesus asks us to follow Him into service, let us respond in full surrender rather than “Let me first…”.