Like so many other passages in Scripture, the intentionality and context of the Gospel today are of critical importance. On the surface, Jesus’s response to those asking to bury their father and to say farewell to family members might seem harsh. After all, doesn’t Jesus think family is important? How could He say such things?
In challenging passages such as this, it’s essential to break things down and get to the heart of what our Lord is trying to tell us. What’s really at issue in this particular passage is the proper ordering of priorities in our lives. In short, any attachment, creature, habit, desire, or relationship that gets in the way of our relationship with God is inherently problematic. Even things that are goods in and of themselves can become disordered if we prioritize them over God because they then become idols that we have given our hearts to. If, however, our relationship with God is the most important thing in our lives, then all of our other priorities will naturally fall into place based on this guiding principle.
Let us perhaps take a moment in quiet prayer this day to ask ourselves whether there are things in our lives that we prioritize over our relationship with God. Do we always give Him the best of our time and our hearts? Are there perhaps some areas of our lives that we have allowed to take precedence over all else? What can we do this day to work towards making our relationship with God the most pivotal and defining aspect of our lives?