It’s got to bow down.

Matthew 10:38 - 39

If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

What do you love the most? Is it your family, your career, church, ministry, addictions, money, husband/wife, or children? Often times and even without knowing it, these are things we put before Christ. And if we aren’t careful we will find that we have erected idols in our lives.

Time and time again we put things in places they should not be. We put a career over family, our marriage over our children, and vice versa. We even put the notion that we are often time inconvenienced on a level that keeps us from engaging with others. When these things are not viewed and weighed properly in our lives, we’ll discover later rather than sooner that they’ve become idols.

Jesus makes it a habit of giving the disciples (and you and I) instructions that requires a response. In this scripture, He’s checking the level of importance they have for him and we’re not exempt either. Essentially he is asking them, “What do you love the most”? And we too should have a response to the same question.

It’s all the things previously mentioned more important to us than Jesus? If so, we are not fit to be his followers.

As we take inventory of the things that have our attention daily, we should consider do I do more of these than I do more of Jesus? Am I spending more of my time, effort, and life with this stuff or are my life and lifestyle indicative of how much I value Jesus? Are these more than the time I spend in a relationship with him?

We cannot find our worth in material things or people. Our true worth is wrapped up in the value we put in Jesus and all others and all other things have got to bow down.