A man told Jesus that he wanted to tend to his father's funeral arrangements (Luke 9:59). Like many, this would involve burying your father (of course), comforting family and friends, executing a will, paying burial fees and taxes, securing his father's home and belongings, and much more. I'm sure the man felt a sense of entitlement, having possibly the all-time best excuse in the world when he told Jesus "I'm sure you'll understand when I tell you that I need to go bury my father first." Yet, Jesus said to the man "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:60; Luke 9:57-62 for context).

That one instance should tell all of us not to allow anything to take our focus off of God and His kingdom initiatives. What is it you consider to be so important that you continually put God on hold? Is it your job? School? Business? Family? A dream?

If a loved one were to die, most would immediately stop what they were doing to make themselves available. And it wouldn't even matter what they were doing at the time. The understood magnitude importance of the situation made everything else pale in comparison. And even those around us would agree, but when a family member dies, most times even your boss understands. "Sure, take a few days off. Two weeks if you need to."

But here we find Jesus telling a man that there is even something of greater importance than a funeral... the Kingdom.

That ought to put our priorities in order for sure! I would venture to say that most of the time our time is taken up by things we even think God would consider important. "He'll understand." But will he really? Or will he be just like Jesus? I'm betting on Jesus!

If we don't see spending time with God and telling others about the Kingdom of God as our number one priority, then we are missing it big time. Don't let another day go by in which you make excuses. If you've lost focus and have placed other things before God, then you can start over right this minute. Don't beat yourelf up about it. Simply repent and make a quality decision that from this day forth that you will let nothing steal from you what belongs to God - which is your time and obedience to the call.

Remember, just because it's important to you doesn't mean it's important to God.