“When Jesus heard his answer, He said, ‘There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’” (Luke 18:22 NLT)
Money and possessions can be the tentacles of Satan when they become our priority. When fear of losing them causes us to hold on more tightly, the reality becomes – they have us, we don’t have them.
We know very little about the man who came to Jesus, but there are a few things we do know. He obviously had some training in the Jewish faith, at least enough to give him an understanding of the 10 Commandments and that there was life after death. He believed Jesus was a “Good Teacher,” and something in him hoped that Jesus would somehow validate His love for His possessions, and still allow him to go to heaven. But that’s not how it works. Jesus always calls us to make a choice – follow Him or hang on to our stuff.
With Jesus, He’s either Lord of all or not Lord at all. And the problem for us is, while we may not wrestle with a love of money or possessions, there are a thousand other things that are vying for our worship. Depending on how God wired us, it may be pride, lust, anger, covetousness, sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, our phone/electronics – the list is nearly endless of the addictions that enslave us and prevent us from being able to commit to the Lordship of Jesus.
Sometimes our addictions come camouflaged as children, work, even volunteering for the church or other worthwhile causes. How can that be? What are the signs or evidence that even something good in and of itself, can become our lord and captor? The two most prominent indicators are time and money.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21: “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
Perhaps a good rule of thumb for what we consider our treasure to be is: how easy would it be to walk away or to entrust whatever it is to someone else’s care? And even as I write that I realize we shouldn’t walk away from our marriages, our children, and depending on our circumstances, it would be foolish to walk away from our job or to stop volunteering, unless the Lord makes it very clear, as He did with this rich man. So, there must be another way.
For me, in this season of my life, my treasure is Jesus. How do I know that? Because He’s the center and focus of my heart and life. He’s nearly always in my thoughts, my desire is to keep Him front and center in everything I do, say, and think.
His will for each of us is to put Him first by loving well those in our spheres of influence – our spouse, kids, family, brothers and sisters in Christ, neighbors, and those whom He places on our heart who are lost.
The key in finding and keeping balance in our lives is allowing Jesus to sit on the throne of our heart and to rule every other area and dimension of who we are or ever hope to be. If I or someone or something else is on the throne of my life, I will be out of balance and I will focus on the created thing more than my Creator.
And please understand, this sounds a lot easier than it is. It’s a process that takes time, effort, and energy, but it’s got to start in your heart and mind. Like the rich man, we have to decide – not once, but every day (sometimes every second) that we want Jesus to rule. As long as we have breath we’ll have the inclination to rule ourselves and to desire what we want, when we want it.
The key for me is that I want Jesus – now and forevermore! How about you? Who or what has you?
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 