Sunday, April 18, 2010

First Love

A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, 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 commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"
"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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."
Luke 18:18-25, NIV

I hate stuff.  I think stuff is anti-Christianity.  Usually, if I voice any opinion that even remotely suggests this opinion, I am assured that stuff is okay, as long as that stuff doesn't come first in your life.  If Jesus is your "first love," they say, all this other stuff is okay, too.

Are you sure?

I think it is worth mentioning that Jesus does not want some casual, half-effort relationship with you.  He died for you.  He wants that kind of commitment from you.  We are not talking about a once-a-month-guys-night-out friendship here.  We are talking about a singularly-focused, every-moment-is-about-you relationship.

Is it okay with Jesus if you love your stuff, so long as you love him, too?  If Jesus is first, can you have whatever stuff you want?  Is your wife okay with your mistress, so long as your wife is still your "first" love?

Oh.

3 comments:

  1. Cool! I'm glad to hear you got rid of your car :)

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  2. I am always curious about real life stories of people who have truly given everything away. You read snippets about some of them, and their trust is amazing and beautiful. But just for the sake of interest, I wonder if there are others out there who did it but are now sorry...like wondering if they misunderstood what God was asking them to do at a specific time in their lives. I'm encouraged by the scripture that "He never lets the righteous go hungry or leaves their children begging bread..." but then I know there are faithful followers who are hungry across the globe. I trust God, I do. But I just don't know what to do with some scriptures...the good kind of wrestling is going on in my heart.

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