“Jesus told him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’ But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.” (Matthew 19:21-22 NLT)
It’s not a sin to have possessions. It is a sin to let possessions have you. But don’t misunderstand, we don’t have to have a lot of possessions to have them possess us, we just need to have misplaced priorities, and that can come in many ways.
The young man in the verses above came to Christ for justification, but not the kind that would save his soul. He wasn’t looking for a new life, he liked his life the way it was. He just didn’t like the way he felt about himself as he considered all he had. He wanted justification for his selfishness, not his sinfulness.
Like many in our world today, this young man decided that living with the sadness of sin was better than having only Jesus. Sin sucks the life out of us. One of the effects of dehydration is decreased mental function – we don’t think clearly. Sin acts in much the same way. We do something stupid, then justify it in illogical ways.
We buy a new car because the new loan promises a lower interest rate than the loan we have on our present car, not stopping to realize we’re increasing our overall debt and putting an added strain on our already over stretched budget. Satan makes sin look so appealing, especially when we factor in our gullibility to do illogical things to get what we think we want.
To walk away from a life of riches doesn’t make sense to a person held tightly by the tentacles of selfishness and lust for more, but it makes perfect sense to someone who understands that nothing is of higher value than freedom from sin offered through the forgiveness of Christ. Pastor Corky Calhoun wrote: “We live in a world of dehydrated people who would rather die of thirst than fully humble themselves, repent of their sin and drink from the well of living water, Jesus Christ.”
Following Jesus looks appealing, as it did for the young man in the verses in Matthew, until we understand what it will cost us. What a lot of people don’t understand is, we’re not getting out of this life alive. Whatever or whomever we serve, sin or Jesus, is going to demand our life. Sin is a slow cancer that progressively eats away at a person’s soul until nothing is left but agonizing pain and suffering.
James describes the process in 1:10-11: “And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.” The only cure for dehydration is hydration, as the only cure for sin is salvation through Christ alone by faith alone.
Having sat by the bedsides of many dying people over the years, not one has ever elaborated to me their many achievements or listed their many possessions. All they want to know in those closing moments of their earthly existence is “Am I right with God? Is everything okay between me and God?”
The only cure for spiritual dehydration is the Author of living water. Seek Jesus today. Please don’t wait another second. Ask Jesus to cleanse you of your sins, forgive you, and fill you with Himself. Then find someone who knows and loves Him to walk with you on your faith journey. You’ll be eternally grateful that you did.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 