Let me just first...

"Jesus, of course you are the most important, but let me just first settle....". Do you recognize yourself in the sentence? Maybe you do, or maybe you did not think so much about who actually comes first in your life. Of course Jesus is the first, but one just has a couple of things one "has to" do.

Everybody knows that while you are young, you should first of all make sure you get educated, but when you are finished with your education, you have to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend (unless you already have one), get married, find a place to live, start a family, secure your old-age pension... and before you realize... you have grandchildren, and of course you must not neglect them, you have to help your own children, take care of your grandchildren... and between all that you saw your faith, which is of course the most important... you just have to be allowed to do all the other things first.

Luke 9:57-62
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man 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 good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Luke 14:25-27
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:33
In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

When you read these verses, you almost feel like saying the same as the crowd of people said to Jesus, "On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" (John 6:60). The truth is that it is a hard teaching and Jesus never made an easy list for those who want to be His disciples. Actually, He first asked them to think carefully if they really wanted to be His disciples.

Luke 14:28-33
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.How is it with you?

Are you ready to give up your own things? If you are, then you are ready to be a disciple of Jesus.