God, family, packers

God, country, family. There are probably other sayings to this affect. They boil down to a list of priorities we should have and oddly enough they all have one thing in common: God comes first.

As Christ followers, we kind of know that God should come first, that putting something else ahead of God is idolatry. And surely we don't want to do that. Here's the funny thing though, a lot of those priority lists include family as well. And I think this is where we get tripped up. Sure, we can talk about money not being an idol, work, hobbies, possessions, football, digital devices, and we might start to squirm a bit, but we what we really don't like to talk about not putting ahead of God is family.

Matthew 8:18-22 reads

“Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another of the disciples said to him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.’”

At this point, Jesus has begun His ministry, people know who He is and have heard about what He has done. These guys, this scribe and the disciple, I don't think they're that different from us. They know who Jesus is, they've been following His Instagram feed and they like what they see. They want in on what He's got going on. They want to be a part of His group. And I think a lot of us do too. I do. I want to follow Jesus wherever He goes, learn from Him, work with Him, further His kingdom. As long as...

• I still have a place to live.
• My kids are safe.
• My stress level stays below a 4.3 on a scale of 1 to 32.
• I don't have to talk to someone smelly.
• I don't have to sit at the uncool table at my mom's group (let's just admit it, we haven't really moved on from Junior High).
•  I don't have to move (away from family, near my family, away from the kids' school district or my church).
• I don't have to work.
• I don't have to quit my job.
• I don't have to go without (new clothes, a washing machine, a dishwasher, Dunkin Donuts).
• I don't have to move to a third world country.
• I don't have to serve in the church nursery or at the nursing home or on the worship team, or with kids under the age of 26 or adults over the age of 27 or anyone who disagrees with me.

You see how it is. We sing songs at church with beautiful lyrics like this.

“Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.”

"Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee." But we're not willing to move out of our town to another white picket fence all American town, let alone a third world country, because it might disrupt the kids lives. They'd have to settle into another school and make new friends (oh, the burden of having more friends!). We're a group of people who don't like when someone sits in our seats or changes type of toilet paper we use. Really? Seriously? We're not willing to disrupt our lives even a little.

"Take my will and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine." Maybe we just switch that around? I don't really want to give up my ideas of what my life should look like. We all have different roadmaps we've planned out for our lives. Maybe you always wanted to be a mama and stay home with your precious babes, driving them to soccer games when they got older. Maybe you wanted a career. Maybe you wanted a family and a career. Maybe you wanted to be a missionary. Sometimes life can kind of resemble what we think it should. Other times, it feels as though it's careening out of control. Sometimes we course correct, we try to be thankful for whatever it actually is. But are we really willing to let go of our plans? Are you willing to be a missionary right where you are instead of in that third world country? Are you willing to give up that career? What about the way you thought your family would look? Yikes! My heart gets thumping when I face questions like these. Because I want to follow Jesus, but I want a place to lay my head. Amiright?

Am I willing to give up my wealth? My security? Am I willing to use my talents to serve Him, even though it might be uncomfortable or take away from "my" time or my family's time? Am I willing to speak and to move at His bidding? What if I look foolish? What if I the Spirit moves me to say, "Amen" during a sermon or kneel during a worship song or <cringe> dance?!?! What if He asks something that I just don't want to do? Help me! What if today I really am called to get that mound of laundry sorted and put away for my family? I was really hoping for a bit grander than laundry, maybe some kind of speaking engagement or planning a ladies night out. That would work for me.

"Take my moments and my days." Are you willing to give it all to Jesus today? Really?