The Bible records the interactions that Jesus had with many people. One thing is consistent in all these encounters, people went away from His presence changed. The blind had their vision restored, the cripple were healed to walk away and the deaf made able to hear Him say, “Go and sin no more”. Most were changed in a positive way by meeting with Christ but others didn’t take away what he wanted them to and left “empty handed”.
I’m amazed by this other group who met Jesus, God in the flesh, and failed to take the opportunity they were given. The Scribes and Pharisees were warned over and over of their need to repent of their sins, give up the traditions of man and seek relationship and worship of God directly. And even some who really wanted to have a changed life missed the mark by just a little. In Matthew 19 we see where a wealthy young man approached Jesus and asked what he could do to have eternal life. Christ told him if he wanted to be perfect, to sell all his stuff and follow Him. And the scripture states…
“When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions”.
Matthew 19:22
We know two things for certain about this young man; he was a devout Jew that had practiced the customs and traditions of the day faithfully and we know he had a lot of stuff. Have you ever wondered what was going on in his head as he walked away from Jesus? I sure have and I think that he really missed out on what Jesus wanted from him, simply to see where his heart was. Was serving and following God more important than worldly possessions or did he see eternal life as just another acquisition to add to his stockpile of stuff? An often overlooked aspect of this story is that Jesus never told the young man he was required to sell his stuff to follow Him, just that “IF” he did, he would be perfect in light of his following of all the commandments so strictly as he had claimed. I believe he left Jesus empty handed when he was given the chance to grasp eternity.
All because he liked his stuff too much.
Fortunately Jesus doesn’t ask any of us to be perfect because if he did we would all be in real trouble. But He does want to know that our heart is really with Him. If we feel that we can earn Christ approval, eternal life and His acceptance we are just like the rich young man and going to walk away empty handed from an encounter with Jesus. Psalm 44:21 says that God knows and searches the heart of men and Christ knew the rich young man’s heart wasn’t really in it.
Jesus probably won’t ask you to give up all your stuff to follow Him but I’m sure we all have something or things in our lives that are keeping us from fully embracing the relationship with Him that He is offering, the one that leads to the abundant life. Where is your heart at today?
The Psalmist wrote…
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
Psalm 139:23
I challenge you to approach the Lord in prayer and make that request. God, YOU examine my heart. God, YOU examine my thoughts. The Holy Spirit will point things out that we will never see on our own and I have to spend a lot of time asking for forgiveness when I send that prayer upstairs. Are you up to that challenge?
Anything that God doesn’t approve of in our lives creates a barrier between us and Him. Every time we remove the stuff from our life that doesn’t glorify God, we get closer to Him. Our relationship with God is dependent on what we are willing to remove from our life that isn’t pleasing to Him. Do you have too much stuff blocking your view of Jesus? Want to get rid of it but not sure where to start? Just ask and He will show you what needs to go.
Be encouraged!
Jeff
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