The rich young ruler was asking Jesus what must I do to be saved?  Jesus proceeded to give him a list of things to which afterwards, the rich young ruler replied, he had happily done all those things!  Jesus then promptly added, well there is one other thing, “sell all you have and come follow me”!  As I was meditating on this, the Lord asked me this question “Which one do you think the rich young ruler had the most problem with, sell all you have or come follow me?” As we will see, this question is the real issue in this story.

A little background might help explain what I am about to tell you.  I had just got done reading a couple of biographies about very wealthy men who had both been asked a question, “What would you do if you lost everything you had”?  They both answered the same way.  “Well certainly it would hurt and be devastating but we know we could do it again”!  And then it dawned on me; the real issue with the rich young ruler was not “sell all you have.”  Because like these men, he probably knew he could do it again.  That’s not to say that it wouldn’t be painful, but if he had to sell it all, he could knowing he could start all over and probably do it again.  No, the more pressing issue was not sell all you have but “come follow me” because that meant he could no longer call the shots in his life. He could no longer run life on his terms and would have to surrender the right to self-government.

Isn’t it interesting how we will do almost anything for the Lord but give up control?  The last thing to go in a true disciple of Jesus is the right to self-government, the right to rule my own life, to determine my own destiny.  “ Come follow me” is the Lord’s appeal to all of us. Surrender of the title deed to my life, means it no longer belongs to me but belongs to the Father to do with it whatever pleases Him.  This is where the joy of real Christianity is found.  This is also where one taps into the power to become all that God intends us to be.  All the eternal resources to live the Christian life are found on the other side of that line.  Till then we are left with mere religion.  Let me give you my definition of religion.  It’s man’s attempt to live the Christian life without the grace that comes from Intimacy with the Father through surrender. Come, let us follow Him!!

May you ever press on to know Him and the power of His resurrection.

Because of Jesus!
Doug