The Best Seat – August 29, 2022

[Jesus said] “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.”
Luke 14:8,9

The Best Seat

Growing up in a household of three boys, everything was a competition. We constantly competed, even when it came down to who got to sit in the front seat of the vehicle. If dad announced we were going somewhere, immediately it was a race to get outside and call: “shotgun!” Then, of course, there would be the argument of who called it first: “I called it.” “Yeah, but I called it first.” “No, you didn’t.” “Yes, I did. You just didn’t hear me.” Very often this argument would lead to Dad declaring that due to our arguing, no one would get to ride in the front seat.

We may have outgrown calling ‘shotgun,’ but we still like to rush for the best seats. We often try to get ahead of others, and we are not too concerned about how we make them feel in the process. If our getting ahead means offending someone or hurting the feelings of others, we are often willing to move forward anyway. We can be so focused on what we want for ourselves; that we end up sinning against others in the process.

If there’s anyone who could have called “shotgun!” and claimed the best seat, it was Jesus. As true God, he could have put himself first. But he didn’t come to put himself first. He came to put our needs ahead of his own. He came so that you and I could have a seat at the banquet in heaven. Jesus came to take the lowest place so that we could be elevated to the highest place. He came and took the manger and the cross so that we could be given the gift of eternal life. With this selfless love of Jesus fresh in our minds, let someone else have the best seat. Yours is yet to come.

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for taking the lowest seat so that I could have a seat in heaven. Empower me to have that same selflessness in my life. Amen.