Sell, Give, Come, Follow

A rich young man asks Jesus how he will inherit eternal life? Jesus mentions the commandments and the young man says, "All these I have kept since I was a boy" (Luke 18:21). The next verses reads, "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me"" (Luke 18:22). The people gathered then asked "who can be saved?" Jesus replies, "what is impossible with man is possible with God." (Luke 18:26-27)

It is not possible for us to save ourselves.

[easy-tweet tweet="What is impossible with man is possible with God - Jesus" via="no" hashtags="DailyPS"]I am extremely saddened to think of our American culture that is so inundated with "stuff". We are so reliant on our riches. Lets face it, the majority of us in America are rich compared to a suffering world around us. Relying on our riches while ignoring the truth of God is flat-out disobedience to the commands of God, whether we like to admit it or not. Jesus gave us commands to care for those who are poor.

"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." - 1 John 3:17-18

These aren't mere suggestions, but the essence of what it means to follow Christ; giving up our temporary selfish desires for the lasting desires of our treasures in heaven. Do we believe heaven holds treasures far more valuable than the ones we hold on to on earth?

Related Post: You’re Blessed More Than You Know

This isn't words from Christ to guilt us in to selling everything we own, as that would not be biblical. But the commands of Jesus are clear about how we steward our treasures. "For where your treasure is, your heart is also." (Matthew 6:21) Jesus has given us his commands. How will we respond? How will we evaluate our treasures and our stewardship and apply the commands of God to them?

"Men are apt to speak too much of what they have left and lost, of what they have done and suffered for Christ, as Peter did. But we should rather be ashamed that there has been any regret or difficulty in doing it." - Matthew Henry