What are you willing to give up? Would you give up your job? Would you give up your house? Would you give up your car? Would you give up all you own? What if giving it all up was required to spend eternity for God?
Most of the world is not looking to give up anything, rather they are pursuing acquiring as much as they can. It is the rat race we all run in unless we step off the track. We have come to believe the pursuit of happiness means to pursue more possessions.
For some of us, the bad news is we must give up everything to be a true follower of Jesus. The good news is it doesn’t quite mean what we think it does. Though Jesus tells the rich young man in today’s passage to go sell all he has, I’m sure Jesus did not intend all of us to do the same. After all, it would not be beneficial to have millions of homeless in the world. On the other hand, I believe He did truly mean we cannot allow our possessions to possess us.
How does that look in our lives? It means we are content with what God blesses us. It doesn’t mean can’t pursue a better job, but we don’t do so just so we can buy more things. Our reason for improving our position in life must be to serve others as God is leading us more than pleasing ourselves.
Being content with God’s blessings is not giving up nor being a doormat. We can be content and continue to pursue a higher level of success. In fact, we should pursue success as we follow God’s plan for our lives. But we must ensure our attitude and use of that success is to fulfill God’s plan.
God expects us to be grateful and show our gratefulness by sharing and contributing to His work. He blesses us so that we can bless others. We may bless others by providing for their physical needs. We also need to bless others by telling them about Jesus. If we won’t tell them ourselves, we need to equip those who will, providing all they need to do so.
I pray we all stop allowing our possessions to possess us. I pray we pursue success to fulfill God’s plan. I pray each one of us will contribute to blessing others. Pursue God’s plan for you. Be successful to bless others. Be content with God’s blessings. Contribute to the spreading of the Gospel.
Mark 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Marty Pressey 