Setting the Correct Priorities in Life

Setting the correct priorities in life
Luke 14: 5, 16 - 23, 26 - 27, 34 – 35

Based upon your bills and your calendar, what are your most significant priorities?

Memorize verse 5.
Describe the context of this verse in Luke's recounting of the gospel story.
Based on this verse what is Jesus' perspective on the Sabbath day?
What kinds of exceptions would Jesus make in our contemporary society for breaking a day of rest?
What is your day of rest? How closely do you protect having that time?

Read verses 16 – 23.
Trace your range of emotions as you are the servant trying to invite people to this particular party.
Into what categories would you place the different excuses that the invited guests give to the servant.
What would you assume is the real reason that they are not going to this banquet?
Why does the master choose to fill his party with the riffraff from the city streets and the highway rest-stops?
What excuses do you give in your daily life to avoid spending quality time with God?
How can a person become more likely to include devotional time in their lives?

Read verses 26 – 27.
What argument might you give to avoid having to live out Jesus' teaching here?
What does Jesus mean by his hyperbolic statement that we are to hate our loved ones?
What stigma would carrying an execution implement have for people during Jesus' time?
What does it really mean to carry a cross in following Jesus?
What are some ways that following Jesus has broken you and your family?
How can we become more open to the severe kind of love Jesus brings into our lives?

Read verses 34 – 35.
What are some of the many uses for salt that makes it such a valuable commodity?
How does salt go about losing its salty qualities?
How is salt an accurate illustration of the lives of followers of Jesus?
What are some ways that God wants to use you to season and preserve this community?
What are some things that threaten to mix into your life and neutralize your effectiveness as a representative of Jesus?
How does a person go about keeping their lives pure in a messy world?