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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, teach me to include you in my plans as I get ready for school to start! Amen.

"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, husband and wife, brothers and sisters, they can't be my disciple," Jesus told a crowd. "If you're going to build a tower, you have to check first to see if you have the money to finish it, or people will laugh at you. In the same way, you have to give up everything if you're going to follow me."

The end of summer is all about notebooks and folders, pens and crayons, backpacks and new shoes. School is starting, and families are doing all the planning they can to make sure you're ready!

Jesus was into planning, too. In this week's Gospel (Luke 14:25-33), He talks about the importance of planning -- not by buying things, but by getting as close to God as you can, so you'll have a good life here and go to heaven someday.

Getting school supplies can be both exciting and a chore. You need the particular notebooks that are on your school's list; the too-small sneakers need to be replaced or a new uniform ordered. There are a lot of details to remember!

When it comes to God, Jesus wanted to simplify things. He said to just put everything else aside -- even relatives who push you to do other things -- and focus on God. (He didn't really mean people should "hate" their families, but that God has to come first.)

Jesus talked about building a tower, saying you can't start without plans or you'll run out of building materials and get confused about how to finish it. In the same way, He said, you can't just say, "I want my prayers answered and I want to go to heaven someday," when you're totally ignoring God right now.

There's a lot of planning before school starts. Besides getting notebooks and pencils, Jesus wanted everyone to pray, go to church and treat our planet and its people well, so we'll also be planning for heaven![[In-content Ad]]

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