“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ll say it again, – it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!’ The disciples were astounded. ‘Then who in the world can be saved?’ they asked.” (Matthew 19:23-25 NLT)
Family Life writer Justin Talbert wrote: “’Daddy’ moaned my sick 4-year-old from bed. ‘My tummy hurts. I need a hundred cookies. It will fix me.’ I started to laugh … Until I realized I use the same logic. In some sense, I am (we all are) spiritually sick and hungry. That’s why we go looking for satisfaction. For a cure. But when we don’t look to Christ, things get frightening real quick. We step into the realm of sin. And here’s something I’ve learned all too well: sin brings about personal ruin. By ‘sin,’ I mean any rebellion against God. And by ‘personal ruin,’ I mean … personal ruin!”
In the verses above Jesus has just had a conversation with a very wealthy young man who wants to have eternal life. He’s concluded that his wealth can’t purchase heaven for him, so he comes to Jesus, hoping to find a cure for his spiritual “tummy ache.” Because Jesus understood that the young man’s money had him, he didn’t have his money, Jesus asked him to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, then come and follow Him. The young man decided he liked the “sickness” more than the cure.
Because most of us, especially in America, are “rich” beyond many people of the world’s ability to comprehend, we miss the connection between us and the young rich man. Yep, we want Jesus, but we also want to hang on to our “stuff.” It took losing everything I had to bring me to an acute awareness that nothing – and I mean that literally – nothing this world offers can compare with loving, serving, and walking closely with Jesus.
Yes, I still have more “stuff” than I’ll ever need, but it doesn’t have me. My wife and I are in the process of sorting out what we really need and giving away what we no longer need. There’s a cleansing effect that has on our souls. You’ve likely heard the adage “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” I saw that on the faces of the people who came to pick up the things we were “selling” for pennies on the dollar the last time we moved.
We had tools, furniture, clothing, and numerous other things that (don’t tell my wife) I ended up giving away, not because I’m a great guy (I’m not), I’m just a person who has grown to love Jesus and others more than I love stuff.
Sin is pleasure for a season, so when we’re hurting and need a quick fix, we’re so prone to turn to our sin of choice, whether it comes in a bottle or can, in pill form, something we can view on the internet, or someone we can call. In whatever form our sin comes, it might seem fun for a short time, but it can’t satisfy our soul. Only Jesus can do that.
Do you find it odd that even for those of us who profess faith in Christ, we can be so repulsed by someone else’s sin, but so “comforted” by our own. As long as we’re in these bodies of clay, we’ll have to deal with our allegiance to sin. But here’s the wonderful news: We have a Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord, who doesn’t simply forgive us, He cleanses us and casts our sin into the sea of forgetfulness, never to be remembered against us again.
Yes, of course, we still have the capacity to sin, but on the basis of more than 60 years of following Jesus, nothing, absolutely nothing, this world can offer compares to intimacy with Jesus and walking in harmony with Him.
Sin – it’s just not worth the price you pay to enjoy it.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 
Amen!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person