There’s this great story in the gospels about the rich young ruler. I can remember hearing teaching and preaching on the story a number of times in my life. Here is just a portion of that story:
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Most of the time I have heard teaching on this, it is explained that Jesus doesn’t ask this of everyone. Instead, a teacher will say, Jesus knew this young man’s heart, how he loved money, and therefore he made this request of him.
What is funny about that, however, is that if any person finds themselves needing to find an out to this request, they likely have the same heart as the rich young man! If you find yourself looking for a caveat to selling all that you have and giving it away, how are you any different than the rich young man? If you really believed Jesus was making this request of you, wouldn’t you walk away sadly too? Or, are you prepared to embrace Jesus at the cost of losing everything else you hold on to?