Jesus~The Only True Satisfaction

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."  (Read about the Rich Young Man here.)   Are we willing to follow Him with conditions like ‘sell everything’ attached?  If our first response is to get all defensive and say things like, 'He would never ask me to do this,' then my guess is we may be victim to the love of money.  I know because I was once and the temptation still from time to time oozes out like that last bit of toothpaste in the tube.  I like my house.  I may not be the best interior decorator (Trey has had to teach me a few things about this), but I like the nick-nacks and wall decor in every room of my home.  I like the purses, shoes, and clothes in my closet.  I think my big huge van I drive is kind of funny and I like it.  I’m incredibly blessed and if I’m not careful I can easily fall back into the trap of being closed-fisted with this stuff…risking a greater blessing Jesus is waiting to pour out if I would just let go of the things I sometimes depend on for satisfaction above Jesus Christ alone. 

"Selling your possessions" can look like many different things in the service of the kingdom of God.  I believe the various passions He puts in our hearts bring us tremendous joy as we serve, but for sure, on some level you can expect it will also involve a sacrifice.  When it’s just me and God on judgment day, I want to have it worked out in my heart that no matter what He requests of me, I will obey. 

I am reminded of the hard words Jesus spoke to his disciples and many of the religious Jews in John 6:25-71.  After hearing the hard teaching Jesus preached to the people, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”  Then Jesus asked the twelve disciples, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”  

  My desire is that when I come across what may seem to me a hard teaching from our Lord Jesus, and when my spirit hears Him asking me, “You do not want to leave too, do you?,” I will respond in the same way Simon Peter did.  “Lord, to whom shall I go?  You have the words of eternal life.  I believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”     

If, regardless of the conditions or how hard the teaching is, we can say, without hesitation, YES!  And, if we do this in humility and count it an honor that we might suffer for the Name of Jesus.  And, we say, Lord, we will give up our lives to follow You to the ends of the world, at all costs, dying to ourselves to allow You to be alive in us...then we have tasted the holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ…we understand the worthiness of our most High and Mighty God!  We probably have our eyes fixed tightly on the LORD and we most likely recognize this world we live in now is not our home.  We are probably preparing ourselves as the beautiful bride of Christ and we are diligently watching for His great return.  Our love for God is sowing seeds in the hearts of the lost and producing abundant fruit for the kingdom of God.   

In the same way our God has a special place in His heart for the widow, orphan, stranger, weak, and poor we find ourselves making more frequent associations with these very people…we are discovering why they are so precious to God and we may even find they actually minister to us far more than any sermon spoken from the mouth of a mega church pastor.  (No offense to mega-church pastors…just saying, something divine occurs through interacting with the saints of God worshipping in the midst of their poverty and weaknesses.)   Above all, we find pure satisfaction and contentment in the presence of the LORD knowing He will never leave us or forsake us.  He is our Bread that satisfies our deepest hunger.  Consider the commercial from my childhood claiming "Snickers really satisfies you."  Well, I can testify to that claim.  But, snickers will only temporarily satisfy me on a physical level. 
In fact, they temporarily satisfy me quite often. 

Jesus said, "but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  He is our present and lasting living water and the Bread of life that will now and forever satisfy!  He's worth "selling everything" for.   

Oh, I have so far to go.  But, “Lord, you have the words of eternal life.  I believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”  I believe that you can take me with all of my dumb mistakes and patiently craft a beautiful piece of pottery…using my broken pieces and transforming them into a lovely part of your kingdom.