Good day dear friends. The funeral for Bro. Lou Moloney will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at First UMC of SM. This devotional comes a bit late as I visited Bobby Gill who underwent surgery this morning. I did not get to see him, but prayed with Cora Sue. Then I drove to New Braunfels to visit the Moloney family. Then Nellie and I drove to Kerrville where I led a group of about 45 in Bible study. We will be here until Thursday.
We continue to affirm unity in Christ, with the goal of sharing the Good News with all.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: The vision of any church should include a clear sense of personal priorities for the Lord Jesus Christ. Read the story of what one told Jesus in Luke 9:57-62. Apply that to your life.
Here is the Luke passage: 57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 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." 59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Oh to follow Christ requires much. So many want to follow Him but whenever anything else comes along many will give in to that and choose that. In this passage you say, a family obligation is more important! The traditional understanding might be that this young man wanted to follow Jesus but had a funeral to attend. William Barclay in his commentary on this passage says this was a familiar saying for those who had to fulfill all of the family's obligations, such as running the family business or working the family farm, until the father died. Jesus Himself didn't begin His ministry until after Joseph died and that's why we believe He was 30 years old at that time. Families are important, no question about it, and rank as one of our most important charges from God, but when they take the place of God in our heart, that is when we have problems.
Our obligation is to trust God that God will care for our families in whatever undertaking we may be asked to do. And this does not come easily, but through much prayer and faith and trusting and walking with God. Not everyone will be asked to leave his or her family, but those who are, will learn to trust God in those cases. Your call may involve a night away or a Sunday away from loved ones, but God is with you and your family. This afternoon we were talking in our Bible study class about those whom we admire for their spiritual maturity and one woman said her son, who happens to be a member of the Mormons. I said I admired that their young people were once required to give two years of their lives to mission outreach immediately after high school. I asked the class what would happen to the UMC if we required the same. I then said we can't even compete with soccer practice, even in some cases, on a Sunday. The church is called to look closely and prayerfully at God's call on our priorities.
Where are you?
PRAYER: God, You're always there for me. I'm sorry I'm barely there for You. Forgive me. Let me give myself completely to You and what You ask of me. I pray that I might be faithful to all You has asked. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.
