All of our lives are somewhat cluttered. I do not mean by this that they are cluttered in the sense that your desk might have a lot of stuff sitting on it or in the sense that your closet might have a bunch of old things stored there that may eventually get thrown away or given to Goodwill or whatever. I mean it in this way: Our lives are busy with things we think that we need to do. We have to get those things done before we can ever get around to doing something else. Some of them we will do immediately and some as time allows, but they are matters of first priority for us and nothing else can be allowed to get in the way of them.

Those people who followed Jesus when he was involved in his personal ministry among men were people just like us. They had cluttered lives too. They had to set priorities and sometimes they did not do a very good job of it. Those things that they set first on the agenda for doing were not always what should have been done first. Other things were more important. But they made the assessment and they made their own independent decision about what to do first and they did what they thought was best. Sometimes things worked out well, and sometimes not so good. Like the fellow who told his wife that he would call the plumber in soon about a pipe that they both were worried about (obviously she more than he); while they went to dinner the pipe burst and the house was flooded with water when they returned. I would venture that she will never let him forget that piece of advice that he ignored!

We tend to think about the Twelve men who chose to be followers of Jesus (and one of them was a traitor), and how they willingly left their boats, their nets, and their families for a time in order to allow Christ to mentor them as “disciples.” But we forget that there were some others, even some that he called to service, but who had other priorities. One fellow said, “Lord let me first go and bury my father.” Apparently his father was not even dead yet (it is of course possible that he was, but most probably not); he was saying that he had family issues to attend to and once they were taken care of he would then be willing to follow Christ. Jesus was not at all happy with being treated this way; in fact, he was rather curt with this fellow, apparently because he knew that the man was only making excuses and putting the Lord off: “Let the dead bury their own dead, but go and preach the kingdom of God” (Lk. 9:60).

Still another man apparently volunteered with the words, “I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house” (v. 61). Note that both of these fellows used the word first in their mention of their plans. The point being, that they planned to follow the Lord, but he was not their first priority, other things were. This fellow was told: “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (v. 62). Once again, the Savior answered abruptly and in frustration, in much the same way that we sometimes do when it is clear to us that someone is just putting us off with flimsy excuses.

It is clear from this passage and from these examples that God has little patience with being put in line to wait for what we consider to be a more convenient time to deal with him. God wants to be first with us or not at all. A lot of you out there think that someday you will get around to God and give him the time that you know he deserves. But for right now your life is just too cluttered with other priorities and so you let him wait his turn. And as far as you are concerned you think that he will just have to be patient.

But you may be in for quite a surprise someday. My guess is that his patience has already grown quite thin in dealing with you if this is your attitude toward your Creator. When he calls you to his eternal Judgment Seat he will not seek a conference with you or call ahead for an appointment. When he calls you will answer, morning, noon or night. You will answer. And you will appear. Do not expect a comfortable time of it, either. From this passage we know how God feels about being put in line behind other “more important priorities.”