The Jewish Festival of Shelters was near. 

So his brothers said to him, 

"Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works that you are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he's seeking public recognition. 

If you do these things, show yourself to the world."

(For not even his brothers believed in him.)

John 7:2-5 CSB

You've got to be seen.

Popular.

You need to be at this festival, get your name out, get your insta followers up.

In the next verse or two Jesus just says "no".

He's not about meeting his culture's view of success. 

In this celebrity age we need to be careful how we measure success. 

Jesus just said no to the cultural expectations.

He also said no to being manipulated into more signs and wonders. 

The expectations of others, their agenda, the pull of popularity, what our friends, family, people tell us we should do...often these things interact with our hearts and we find we're drifting away from being more like Jesus.

Sometimes "no" is a complete sentence.

Character matters.

Integrity matters 

Following Jesus matters.

And if that takes you to a stage or a platform or popularity or leadership that's great. 

Love God first 

If people want us to go, to do, to perform, to become, to change; love God first. 

Seek His heart first.

Jesus shows us here that loving people isn't doing what they want. 

#loveGodfirst