I Want That!

Daily Reading:  Matthew 19 

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (Matthew 19.21) 

Devotional Thought: “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?”  A man seeking spiritual peace asked Jesus that question, and Jesus rocked his world, saying: If you really want to have peace with God, then you have to give up everything else.

 Jesus addressed the man's...

• Will: "if you would..." Do you really want to do this?  If you don’t desire this with all your heart and soul then we need not go on with this conversation.  If you, do, however, be assured that God “rewards those who seek him” (11.6).

• Need: "be perfect..." The Bible indicates that perfection is obtainable and obligatory: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5.48).   The Greek word teleios means “brought to completion.”  We don’t have God-like perfection, but we can be complete in the sight of God.

• Obstacles: "what you possess..." The Bible says that Jesus “knew what was in man” (John 2.25).  Jesus could read it in the man’s eyes: This guy likes money and the prestige it brings…

• Solution: "go... sell... give..." Let go of all that stakes a claim on your heart greater than the claim of the Kingdom.  Sell it!  Give it away!  If it keeps you out of the Kingdom, it’s not worth having.

• Reward: "you will have treasure in heaven..." When you’ve forsaken everything else, your treasure is in heaven.

• Life: "come, follow me..."  Gaining the Kingdom is less about making a decision and more about living a life for, with, and through Christ.

 Have you allowed Jesus to address your will, your need, your obstacle, your solution, your reward and give you life? 

Prayer: I am willing...  Make me clean, O Lord.  More than anything else, I want to gain your Kingdom.  Help me to lay aside every weight and the sin which hinders to run with perseverance the race marked out for me.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 89.46-52

46 How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man!

48 What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?

50 Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked, and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,

51 with which your enemies mock, O LORD, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.

52 Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.