A mother of a teen once told me, “Being a student is what’s priority for my child right now. Once he gets his education, then he can serve God!”
I forget what I said back to the mother. But if I could say it now, I would say, “Ma’am, you are saying it’s okay for your child to go to hell. Don’t you know that Jesus said unless He becomes the priority of our lives, we have no part in Him?” (Luke 14:26)
It isn’t just the child that I worry about. I worry about the mother as well. Jesus is not her priority. She will not be His priority either when the judgment comes… (“Depart from me. I never knew you”)
One of the most damning thoughts is: “I will serve God once I take care of this urgent and immediate matter right now.”
To many Asian parents, it’s their children’s education that is urgent and all important that they say God can wait to.
To young adults, it’s their sense of freedom they want that they say God can wait to.
To a poor family, it’s their need to put food on the table and clothes on their backs that they say God can wait to.
To a poor widow, Elijah asks for bread that she doesn’t have! When she replies that she has just enough to feed herself and her son, Elijah tells her to feed him first! What??!
As a prophet, Elijah represented God. Through that episode, God was making it clear that He must be priority even before our lives. (And of course, God took care of the woman and her son!)
In the past, I have made mistakes of telling people, “God will understand. You take care of you urgent matter first and come back to God when you are ready…” But I realize now that that very crisis or “urgent” matter may have been put there to test their faith, and to prove to themselves that God is their priority.
God did ask Abraham for the only son he had.
God did ask Moses to go back to the only place he didn’t want to go to.
God did ask Esther to risk her life to save her nation.
If God has to wait until we take care of our urgent matter first, is He really first?
If we can’t trust Him in the matter that mattered the most to us, is He really our Lord?
PH