Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 12 before reading the devotional below.
What would you say is most important to you? We all know the right answers… God, family, friends, etc. Let’s move past what we should say into what is really true. Want to know my honest answer? What others think about me. Reputation, image, making everyone happy, people liking me. Deep down, that is what I care about most. And on my worst days I’m thinking way too much about retweets and shares and likes and followers. On my best days, I’m working to have a reputation that reminds people of Jesus.
Either way, I’m spending a lot of time working to gather something that I can’t take with me to heaven. Yes, I can sow seeds of influence that will hopefully change people’s lives in eternal ways, and perhaps people will regard me well for that. But their opinions? That’s just my pride, plain and simple.
In this 12th chapter of Luke, Jesus preaches a message of freedom about priorities. He’s calling people out, but he’s really setting people free. In this case he’s telling people that if they focus on money, they’ll miss him. If they focus on family, they’ll miss him. If they are caught up in their own busy lives and aren’t keeping an eye on what is spiritually going on around them, they’ll miss him. And missing Jesus isn’t worth any of that.
Here’s your freedom for today: who you are with Jesus is a better you. I don’t want to be that prideful person caught up in my own ego. And I know you don’t want to be that person obsessed with money or your schedule or your kids or your job. Instead of being caught up, I want to be caught upwards. At the end of each day, I want to ask myself, “Did I go deeper with Jesus today?” And I want that to be all that matters.