Sometimes Christians don’t get it, but the Bible very clearly reveals that our walk with the Lord pleases Him only if it is characterized by total commitment. This truth was made very clear by the Lord in Luke 18, where Jesus admonished the young ruler. The young man was diligent is keeping the 10 commandments, revealed in Exodus 20. He said, “All these things I have kept from my youth” (21).
Jesus wanted more from the man. He was very rich, and apparently liked his riches. Jesus knew they were too important to him, so he said, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (22).
The object lesson is clear, Jesus must always come first. In this case, He did not. We are told in Mark that “…he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Mark 10:22). Not only did Jesus’ words make the young man sad, they caused him to leave Jesus. He wasn’t will to do the one thing that Jesus said he had to do to “inherit eternal life” (18). It had nothing to do with Jesus being unkind or too harsh. It had everything to do with the fact that the young man loved his possessions more than he loved God.
This allowed Jesus to teach His disciples something about total commitment. First, he talked about riches. Possessions can come between the Lord and ourselves. Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:24-25). There is nothing inherently wrong with money. But, the love of it can lead to “all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Remember when the Lord referred to mammon as a master (Matthew 6:24).
Next, Jesus replied to Peter’s declaration, “See, we have left all, and followed you” (28). He did not tell Peter that it was not necessary, or that such total commitment was not required. Instead, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life” (Luke 1:29-30).
A summary teaching of our Lord is this, “…he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39). That is radical. That is total commitment!
This is a simple, but hard concept to stomach. It is obvious that most who even claim to be Christians don’t get it. Most Americans think such a radical, extremist position is ludicrous. And yet, that is what our Lord expects of us.
