“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
Mark 10:21-22
Since I have committed to the World Race, Satan has whispered in my ear many reasons why I should not go.
(1) I will miss my friends’ graduation
(2) I just started building community in my church
(3) I will miss the holidays with my family
And the overall lie that he has whispered to me in response to all of this is, “You won’t have community when you go, and you won’t have community when you return.”
THE PRESSURE IS ON
During this Holiday season it has been revealed how much my heart is like that of the Rich Young Ruler. He had upheld so many parts of the Lord’s commands, and he tries to use his resume of obedience to prove that He is worthy and prepared to follow Jesus. He then asks “What more do I have to do?” Jesus responds by telling him to give up everything he has, give it away to the poor, and follow him. Initially one might believe that Jesus is asking this young ruler to DO something. But just as it always has been, God is really dealing with the heart. When you look at the young man’s resume (Mark 10:19-20) you see that all of the Ten Commandments were mentioned but the first few that deal directly with our relationship with God. What we see taking place is Jesus dealing with the similar message that he taught in Matthew 22:36-40:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
As I have surveyed my beautiful family around me this Thanksgiving, it has sunk in hard that next Christmas we will not be together.
I praise God for my family. I have been truly blessed with a great one. Thick as thieves we are.
We know that we are called to be a part of a community and that family is a God designed unit (Hebrews 10:25; Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; Genesis 2:18; Exodus 20:12).
They are good gifts given to us to enjoy right?
But the problem is, we have let our love for these gifts overpower our love for the Giver:
“…they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” Romans 1:25
JESUS COMBATS HIS ENEMIES WITH SCRIPTURE
Read the discourse between Satan and Jesus in the Garden from Matthew 4:1-11
Satan tempted Jesus, the King of the Universe, the Lord of Hosts, God in flesh. Jesus knows what it’s like to be in a fragile state and be tempted to be satisfied by the things of this World. But unlike us, he never gave in to temptation, and he never sinned.
We have been given a very precious thing, the Word of God. When we have stored the truths of scripture in our heart, we have the same weapon that Jesus did. There is a reason that the Bible is compared to the sword (Hebrews 4:12). It is the most powerful thing we have against our enemy. Regardless of our emotions, we know that God’s word is the truth (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It has stood the test and proven itself as reliable with prophecy after prophecy being fulfilled through Christ. If we rely on our feelings we are sure to fail. So, just as Jesus took the scriptures seriously and was able to put Satan and his schemes in their rightful place, we have the freedom to do the same.
SCRIPTURE TO COMBAT THE RICH YOUNG RULER SYNDROME
Matthew 10:24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master”
Luke 9:61-62 “Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 10:37-39 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Mark 10:28-31 “Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.””
FINAL THOUGHTS
I know all the Lord’s promises for me are yes and amen (2 Cor. 1:20). God does not tell us to do things because “He said so”. He is a good parent, and everything that he commands is not only for His glory, but for our good. It is for our benefit. It is so that we may enjoy life to the fullest and be truly satisfied. I know that having a proper love for my family and friends means handing them over to God. It means that I need to love God first in order to truly love them. These gifts that the Lord has given me are not truly mine, they are on loan, and my duty is to steward them well. In order to have God, it means that I must believe, which means that I must find Him reliable, which in turn means trusting that when He tells me to “go” and leave everything else I know behind… it is for His glory and for my good.
With God I have everything, and without Him I have nothing. Our God is worth following; don’t let Satan or your weak heart convince you that He’s not worth the cost!
