As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
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.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.”
The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
—Mark 10:17-31
I’ve heard the potential meanings of this passage argued many times. A lot of Christians say that God is not asking us to give up everything—that this was a requirement given only to this person who couldn’t give up what he had to follow the Son of God. What I’ve never heard anyone argue is, “What is God asking me to give up to follow him today?”
I guess that’s how this passage has manifested itself in my life. It seems almost daily now I’m confronted with what I still hang on to. It’s almost like every morning during prayer time, God asks, “What about that? Are you willing to give up that to follow me?” He knows his child. He knows where I am. He meets me where I am and asks these very simple requests. I think he does this in increments with me because I’m an incremental learner. He knows that if he asks me tomorrow, “Will you sell all that you have and give it to the poor and follow me?” My response would be, “Sure… but how do I follow you? I don’t see you at work in a way where that makes sense right now.”
Hopefully, God would smile at such a response. He smiles a lot at me I imagine… and shakes his head at his rather, dull, hard headed servant. He knows I have faith and belief, but he also gave me a strong dose of common sense.
So, today, I don’t ask you if you’re willing to sell everything you have, give it to the poor, and follow God, but I do ask—as God asks me daily—what are you hanging on to? What do you have value over your relationship with God? What self-addiction do you cling to in lieu of clinging to God? What keeps you from throwing yourself—heart, mind, soul and strength—at your Creator and counting on him for every little thing?
The process of transformation is not always immediate. A lot of times transformation is over time. If you don’t believe me, look at the world God created. Some changes happen immediately while some take months and even years. Your transformation from simple human being to a life-giving, powerful child of God may also take months and even years. Trust in this: God meets you where you are… and then he asks you if you’re willing to be transformed into the being he made you to be. What is he asking you today? What are you willing to give up to be transformed today?
