Read Matthew 19: 16-26
I don’t want to get rid of it. I don’t want to stop.
A man came to Jesus and asked, “What good thing shall I do to obtain eternal life?” Jesus heard this question about being GOOD and when it comes to eternal life, it has nothing to do with being GOOD ENOUGH. But that’s how our world thinks today. They look at themselves as being good enough. So Jesus snipped that in the butt by saying, “Why are you asking me about being good because no one is GOOD but God. So Jesus tells him he needs to keep the commandments I mentioned all of them except the ones that had to do with God. Jesus knew that,
1. He wasn’t keeping all of The Commandments, and
2. He knew he was struggling with the commandment that had to do with his relationship with God.
The man, in his self-righteous arrogance says, “I’ve kept all these six commandments, what am I still lacking? It appears he was sincerely asking and seeking truth. So Jesus answered and pointed to the man’s weakness, which wasn’t GOOD. This weakness broke the first two commandments of not worshiping any gods but God, and not making something an idol that you worship in place of God.
The man’s possessions was his idol so Jesus said to him,
1. “Go sell your possessions and give to the poor.” Why? Because if we keep the very thing that becomes our idol it is destructive to our soul, our spirit. But giving it away is what actually sets us free. It’s no longer holding us in bondage.
2. And Jesus said, “Come follow me!” Which means to become like him, be a disciple of him.
Upon hearing this, the man went away grieved because he had a lot of possessions and he didn’t want to give it up. Then Jesus said to his disciples how hard it was for a rich man to enter the king of heaven. Not because money is evil, but because once you have money, it is a strong temptation to want more of it, so much so, that it hinders one’s relationship with the Lord. It becomes your god. You want it and it holds you in bondage.
What has become your god? What is the temptation that seems to control you. In fact it hurts your relationship with the Lord. It can be anything: it could be money, possessions, power, an addiction such as drugs, porn, alcohol. It could be sports, a hobby, anything.
As Jesus said to the rich man, get rid of it because it was hindering and preventing him from entering eternal life. Don’t respond like the rich man saying I’m good enough or I’m a good person. Let’s snip that into the butt, no you’re not. None of us are, only God. That’s why having a relationship with Jesus is so important because he makes us good enough because he forgives us of our sins and makes us holy before God.
Do what Jesus said to the rich man and get rid of your idol. Seriously, stop what you’re doing that has become your idol and see if you find yourself wanting it back, like you can’t live without it. That should be our heart for the Lord, we can’t live without him. That’s why Jesus said come follow me and become my disciple.
