Yesterday, my husband spoke about the need for believers to be sold out to Jesus. In his message, he referenced the story of the rich young ruler. This was a man with great possessions. He asked Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life, and when Jesus told him to observe the commandments, he replied that he had always done that since his youth. In other words, he was already a believer. Then Jesus told him that he was lacking something. He instructed the man to sell everything he had and follow him. This was not well received by the rich young man and he went away saddened. Then Jesus made the statement that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Some bible readers have mistaken this to mean that a person who has accumulated wealth is less likely to enter into heaven than a person who has very little. In the literal sense, this is a misinterpretation of scripture and completely false. From a spiritual perspective, this couldn’t be truer.
From a spiritual perspective, the concept of “rich” is not limited to tangible wealth and material possessions. While parting with material things may pose a problem for anyone, including believers, it actually is not the greatest threat to our entrance into heaven. In fact, material things, regardless of value, will never amount to one’s greatest and most valuable possession. The greatest possession that we find it most difficult to part with is ourselves – i.e. our personal preferences.
Your habits. Your ways. Your tendencies. Your thoughts. Your choices. Your free will. All of these combined represent your greatest earthly possessions, and at times, you are I can be extremely rich. But what Jesus is saying is that we must sell everything we have (deny ourselves) and take up our cross (His purpose) and follow Him (obedience). Now, let’s see if Jesus’ statement makes more sense. J Have you ever felt like it would be easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than to sacrifice what you want in order to do what God was asking of you? I certainly have.
Every situation or decision where we seek to do the will of God requires a denial of our fleshly preferences and for this reason, it is often difficult to sell ourselves completely to do the will of God. Sometimes we sell only portions of ourselves. We may give up some habits but keep some attitudes. We may refrain from sin but give into strongholds.
Let’s examine Jesus statement again: “sell whatsoever thou hast…and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”
Whatever you have left of yourself in the way you manager your life, sell it! If there are hold habits, sell them! If there are old ways and responses, sell them! If there’s any left-over “knick knacks” of the person you used to be, sell them! A good way to determine this is to take an honest assessment of your recent decisions and behaviors. If you see more of yourself than God, it’s time for an auction. It’s time tell yourself out to the highest bidder: Jesus Christ Himself.
As Pastor concluded, he reminded us that it’s great to be saved, but Jesus desires that we are also sold out. Certainly being saved is our only way into Heaven, but selling out to Jesus is the only way to experience Him while living on earth. The Word was written that we might believe and hope in things eternal but also that we might experience and demonstrate a life lived in Him on earth.
So take a look around? Are you lacking something? Are there things hidden in your heart’s closet that you need to sell today? If you will commit to selling every part of you that remains you will experience your best life.
Enjoy your week. All my love.
Nicole
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