The Richness of our Savior

While the following passage tells a very familiar story, I would like to tell you guys about how God let it speak to me in a new light:

"A ruler questioned Him, saying, 'Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER."' And he said, 'All these things I have kept from my youth.' When Jesus heard this, He said to him, 'One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich" (Luke 18:18-23).

Is it right to assume that we have...a lot? I mean, look around you. You probably have a closet full of clothes and shoes, a shelf full of books and clutter, a desk full of unused back up supplies... Our material posessions are growing and growing. Now while I do not believe it is wrong to have nice things, I think we have grown very accustomed to having MUCH and expecting to grow in the amount of posessions we have.

Notice verse 22. In it, Jesus says, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." In other words, Jesus is saying that this rich young ruler cannot follow Him without first giving up everything that he has. So what are you holding on to that is not allowing you to follow Jesus? Are you rich in your own plans? Rich in relationships or love? Rich in dreamland or rich in academics? Rich in material posessions or even wealth? Now while I'm not telling you to drop out of school, gut your dorm room, or live in a cave and starve yourself of human interaction, I am asking you to loosen your grip and open your hands. You can't follow God and stay where you are. You have to first be willing to give Him everything you have (material and otherwise) and act upon that willingness as He leads.

Pray that the Holy Spirit would convict you of the things you're holding onto tightly.
Pray that the Holy Spirit would teach you to trust God and rest in that trust.
Do as the Holy Spirit leads, whether that means you relinquish control over your future, give some of your stuff away, or spend less time with friends and more with Him.

Oh. And on a side note, think about the richness of our Savior!! When we have Him, boyyy oh boy are we rich!! His purity, His glory, His heart! Howwww wonderful is He!!