”Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!” Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’” A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”“
Luke 14:15-35 NLT
God first. God deserves and demands the highest place in our lives, because He is the highest good for our lives. Jesus called His followers to consider the cost of following Him. There is a cost to being a Christian, even though we are saved by grace. Salvation is a gift, but there is a cost to keep the gift and live it out. Following Him means we care for Him more than anything or anyone else. The problem is that we often try to squeeze God into our busy schedules; we often put other people and things higher than our King.
The Parable of the Banquet makes the same point. God has graciously prepared a free feast for His guests—but they refused to come because they held other items of higher priority. So the Lord invites everyone to come, yet those who rejected His offer will face consequences. God refuses to take anything but the top place in our lives, because He is of highest worth in this universe. Refusing His invitation to real life has consequences. These consequences are written in human history and in our very lives. But those who boldly choose to follow Jesus first have their lives shine and their hearts are at peace. They rise above the opinions of others and change people’s lives with truth and kindness. They follow Jesus and join His mission in the world to call people back to the Creator.
What does it mean for you to put God first in every area of your life? What costs of following Jesus are you experiencing right now?
