Assessment

Matt.16:²⁶ “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”

Please study Matt.19:16-30. As we study this portion of Scripture in detail, I believe that the Holy Spirit will brood over us, and birth vision in our lives and nothing that God has put in our hands will perish, in Jesus Name. Matt.19:²¹ [NIV] “Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” The vision Jesus put before the young ruler was of perfection, spiritual maturity, and eternity. Vision is the ability to see beneath the surface of people’s lives. Jesus saw that beneath the young man’s superficial qualities, there was commitment. Jesus saw the possibility of what he could be in the Kingdom.

When you look at the life of music icons, Fela for example, you cannot help but think about what the possibilities would be if Fela were a pastor. Similarly, Jesus saw huge potential in the young ruler, the possibility of a great general. He had kept the commandments since he was a child. And he was not lying because Jesus would have called him a liar. What Jesus was telling him in essence was, it is time to let go of the pleasures of life and become a disciple and the man was sad. But why would Jesus even tell him to sell all that he had and give the proceeds to the poor? As if that was not hard enough, Jesus said, follow me. The demand Jesus placed on this man can easily be perceived as unfair; but was it really unfair?

What Jesus reveals to us in this story is that anything you hold tightly to, apart from God, is capable of hindering you from entering heaven. Such things are not necessarily bad but if you possess things to the extent that those things possess you, then you will have a challenge. Yet there are some people who do not have a lot but when it comes to finances, they are not willing to part with the little they have. And that becomes a problem to their spiritual advancement. One of the advance decisions I made early in my walk with God is not to have anything I cannot give to God.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I ask for the grace to hold loosely to things and tightly to You, in Jesus Name. Amen!