My youngest wanted to imitate what my oldest was doing when we were remodeling our dining room chairs. Above is a picture of Santiago working with the tools. It was a beautiful moment, to pause and capture this moment since we only have such little time before our sons grow up.

It reminded me that when you are genuinely in love you are rich and you imitate the one you love. Jesus does the same for us in the Gospel this weekend. He leads so that we might follow him. Jesus preaches only what he practices.

In the Gospel this weekend, we hear the uneasy truth that we must forego all things and follow Christ. Jews and Muslims profess a similar truth in their desire for putting God first. The Jews have a prayer called the shema: “Hear, O Israle! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Islam professes the shahadah, the first half states: “There is no god but God.” In the Christian heart, is Jesus first or do we make other things first.

To place other things as number one in our lives when they are really number two is idolatry. It is the first and gravest sin we all struggle with because it can be an addiction.

Jesus is not a medicine, a self-help, or a slogan to be adopted. He is the source of complete happiness and joy. To follow him is to follow wisdom.

From the Book of Wisdom we hear that God has been generous in giving us counsel, he gave us Wisdom in his Son. God knew we were weak “for the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans.” God set a path made straight for all of us. It is the cross. Jesus paved the way, carried his cross, so that we might follow. The only way to follow him, is to put him first.

When Jesus is the absolute, infinite, unlimited, and nonnegotiable love of our lives then everything he has asked us to give up: pride, honor, mother, father, husband and wife, are seen as gift. Everything in life is gift and at an unexpected moment, we need the strength to return all things to God.

When Jesus is our number one, moments like working with my son in the dining room restoring chairs becomes a moment of recognizing God’s holy presence for God is everywhere and putting God first helps us recognize this truth.