Matthew 19:16-26 (AMP)
And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what [essentially] good thing shall I do to obtain eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?” Jesus answered, “Why are you asking Me about what is [essentially] good? There is only One who is [essentially] good; but if you wish to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments.” He said to Jesus, “Which commandments?” And Jesus answered, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony; Honor your father and mother; and love your neighbor as yourself” [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others]. The young man said to Him, “I have kept all these things [from my youth]; what do I still lack?” Jesus answered him, “If you wish to be perfect [that is, have the spiritual maturity that accompanies godly character with no moral or ethical deficiencies], go and sell what you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk].” But when the young man heard this, he left grieving and distressed, for he owned much property and had many possessions [which he treasured more than his relationship with God].
Jesus said to His disciples, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it is difficult for a rich man [who clings to possessions and status as security] to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man [who places his faith in wealth and status] to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were completely astonished and bewildered, saying, “Then who can be saved [from the wrath of God]?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Many of us are probably walking around wondering what we need to do to gain eternal life, much like the rich young ruler that goes to Jesus in this passage from Matthew. Often, we have that one thing—call it a vice, a bad habit—that holds us back from totally surrendering to God. Instead of having the willingness to fight that thing inside us, we want to negotiate for eternity.
When the rich young ruler is told by Jesus that he needs to let go of the things that hold him back—that he should let go of the possessions he holds so tightly—the man is crestfallen and walks away from Jesus. He wanted to be spiritually secure and had worked on it since his youth, but he could not break free from the grip his possessions had on him.
I wanted to be mad at the ruler for walking away from Jesus—I really did—but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Do you know why? Because I suffer from the same problem. Every one of us has that one thing that we wouldn’t be ready to turn over to the Lord if we were asked right now. But you want to be free, and you want eternal life. So, the question then becomes, what has you so gripped that you’d rather stay with it than go with Him?
If you stand in front of the Lord and want to be free, know that He won’t let you settle in spiritual competitive contradiction. In other words, He won’t let you be satisfied in getting it almost right. Or being almost holy or almost committed. He loves you too much and wants abundant life for you, which is why He won’t let you avoid the thing that prevents you from being free. He loves you, but He’s going to be in your face about that part of you that pushes away from Him.
What do you need to do? First, you need to be thankful for the grace God places over your life that gives you the opportunity to face the things that restrict you. Love God because He pushes you to be better. Then, you need to figure out what it is that is controlling you and face it head on. It isn’t going to be easy. It may even get perilously close to utter chaos and confusion. But your relationship to Him is about obedience at all costs because the Lord is willing to lose you over the truth but He’s not willing to keep you over a lie.
You might not want to face it, but I can guarantee you that it will be worth it. I don’t care how hard that thing in your life is or how tight its grip is—we serve a God who can do it, who can overcome. Don’t walk away when you have that first taste of failure. Remember: with man it may be impossible, but with God, anything is possible.
