Daily Devotion

Forsaking All Others

"If people come to me and are not ready to abandon their fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as their own lives, they cannot be my disciples.  So those who do not carry their crosses and follow me cannot be my disciples."  Luke 14:26-27

I'm sure everyone has heard the traditional wedding vows during a wedding or marriage ceremony, right?  Well just in case, here they are: I, (Bride/Groom), take you (Groom/Bride), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. Well after you and your love are officially married, you no longer see yourself without that person.  You forsake all others in the name of your marriage.  In some marriages (and as is the natural order as God intended from scripture--my personal interpretation) no person comes above your spouse but God himself.  For the unmarried people like myself, that space is currently filled by my mother and immediate family.  I do not think there is anyone I love more than them other than God.  In the scripture above, Jesus tells us that we have to be ready to abandon all to follow Him--really meaning we are supposed to love Him more than anything.  And why shouldn't we?  He died so that we will not have to spend eternity without Him--in the true death of the soul. 

There is a song I absolutely LOVE hearing and singing--Lamar Campbell's More Than Anything.  The lyrics of the chorus say: I love you Jesus, I worship and adore you, Just want to tell you, Lord I love you more than anything.  This is the kind of love Jesus is calling us to.  We are supposed to love Jesus more than our fathers, more than our mothers, more than our spouses, more than our children, more than our siblings, more than our own lives.  I think the last part of that scripture is the most critical.  You see, all of those people comprise our lives.  Our jobs and careers, our travels, our salary, even our physical bodies encapsulate our lives.  We have to put loving God above that.  Luke 17:33 says "If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it."  So...what are you waiting for?  Don't you want a real love, a true and pure love?  God wants us to love Him with every ounce of our being...and don't you know that He will give us everything we desire, even more as long as it is within His will?