October 19th~What is Most Valuable?

Luke 14:25-17:10

John 11:1-37

Jesus described what it meant to be one of His followers. “If you want to be My follower,” He said, ”then you must love Me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, one cannot be My disciple; and, you cannot be My disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me” (Luke 14:25-27). In other words, Christ must take first place in our lives and those things that He values must supersede the things that we value.

For example, we value money. It might be the one thing that the world honors most. However, “what the world honors is an abomination in the sight of God,” because it distracts men from following Him (16:13-15). “You cannot serve both God and money,” Jesus said, “for you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to one and despise the other.” In God’s view, money has no value, unless it is used for His purposes, to benefit others.

What the Lord values is lost souls. When tax collectors and other notorious sinners complained about the people with whom Jesus was associating, He told three stories, that of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son (15:1- 32). “Heaven is happy over one lost sinner who returns to God... There is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents... We should celebrate when one who was lost is found.” Here is what God values.

Those who are lost in their sins are separated from fellowship with God. There is a great chasm between them, as Jesus illustrated in His story of the rich man and Lazarus (16:19-31). Those who are lost end up in a place of anguish, suffering for eternity. Jesus said that He came “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Shouldn’t this be what His followers value?

Daily Reflection

What are those things that you value most?

How do they compare with your commitment to Christ? Have you chosen them over Him or has your love for Him eclipsed your view of them?

The world wants you to value what it values. Have you been deceived into cherishing what it says is valuable? Where in your life can you see the loves of the world creeping in and taking precedence over what is most important?

So is the Lord saying that you cannot love your family, your friends, or even yourself? Explain.

If the Lord values the rebel, the sinner, the heathen, the backslider, the down and out, the losers of society, then shouldn’t His followers do the same? Evaluate your view of those the world has relegated to the sidelines. Are you seeing them with your eyes or His?

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