Have you ever been doing a task and felt like you were missing something? You couldn’t figure it out, but something just felt or seemed off? This is how a rich young ruler felt who came to Jesus one day. The young man comes to Jesus and asks Him, “what must I do to have eternal life?” That seems like a good question to start off with doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it gives us a window into the young man’s heart. He thought salvation was about what he could do. To expose this, Jesus tells him to keep the commandments. When he asks which ones, Jesus gives him what are known as the horizontal commandments. The horizontal commandments speak of the Ten Commandments that deal with our relationship with other people. Here was the young man’s response, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” The young man’s response is very telling isn’t it? He was saying how he was treating people the way he was supposed to. If salvation was about what we do, shouldn’t he have felt secure in his salvation? But he doesn’t. He is saying, “I’m doing all those things but I still feel like something is missing. That was Jesus’ point. The young man didn’t love others the way he claimed he did. Proof of that was in that when Jesus told him to sell what he had, give it to the poor, and follow Him, the young man was unwilling to do it. Jesus exposed something in this young man that unfortunately is true for many people.
This young man “loved” Jesus right up to the point that it was going to cost him something. My guess is you have been in a relationship with someone like this. They “love” you, and everything is great until they have to sacrifice something for the relationship. Then what happens? They give up and walk away. That is exactly what this young man did. True love requires sacrifice. We know this because of Jesus’ example and His teaching. Our love for Jesus should mirror Jesus’ love for us. It requires us dying to our own desires, and instead desiring to do Jesus’ will. Our love for Jesus requires us to sacrifice our comfort to fulfill His commands. By the way, it’s not a sacrifice if it doesn’t cost you something. If we are honest, we change Isaiah’s words around. The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 6 is having a vision of God in His glory and on His throne. Isaiah says that he hears the voice of the Lord saying, who shall go for us? Isaiah says, “Here am I, send me.” However, a lot of times our response is, “Here am I, send them.” We are ok with following God up to the point that He asks us to do something hard or something that we don’t want to do. Yet, true love sacrifices for those we love. Our love for God is also seen in our mindset of being a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we submit ourselves to God, we are relinquishing all control over our life. In this, God is glorified and our love is demonstrated. Is something missing in your walk with God? How is God asking you to demonstrate your love and obedience to Him today? What is stopping you from doing it?
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin