Many of us can sure TALK much good talk about God, Jesus and the Bible…. but what are we WALK-ing?

And behold, there came a man up to (Jesus), saying, “Teacher, what excellent and perfectly and essentially good deed must I do to possess eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why do you ask Me about the perfectly and essentially good? There is only One Who is good [perfectly and essentially] – God. If you would enter into the Life, you must continually keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “What sort of commandments? [Or, which ones?]” And Jesus answered, “You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother, and, you shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.” The young man said, “I have observed all these from my youth; what still do I lack?” Jesus answered him, “If you would be perfect [that is, have the spiritual maturity which accompanies self-sacrificing character], go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven, and come, by My disciple [side with My party and follow Me].” (Matthew 19:16-21)

“SELL WHAT YOU HAVE.” This is a profound statement. It encompasses all things physical, but also mental and spiritual. What do you “have?” What do you possess – but also, what do you think, believe, hope, dream, and desire? What do you base your life upon? Are you willing to “sell it?” Are you willing to exchange it for what the LORD “has” for you – His plan, His will, His thoughts, His beliefs, and His desires for your life? Are you willing to base your life upon Him instead of on you? Do you want to be His disciple? Then you must.

But when the young man heard this, he went away sad (grieved and in much distress), for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:22-23)

This man was not willing. He chose what he “had” instead of choosing Jesus. What about you? Have you “sold what you have,” to “come be Jesus’ disciple, siding with His party and following Him,” or have you “gone away sad instead, (grieved and in much distress), holding onto your “great possessions?”

Did you start out surrendering all of “what you have” for all of “what He has,” but somewhere along the way you looked back to “your own possessions?” As the LORD is drawing His true followers to desperately desire Him in a deeper and deeper way, He is faithfully pointing out things He wants to uproot and purge from us. Are we willing? Are we surrendered? Are we following? Are we casting ourselves down at His feet in exchange for all He wants to do in and through us?

When the disciples heard this, they were utterly puzzled (astonished, bewildered), saying, “Who then can be saved [from eternal death]?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.” (Matthew 19:25-26)

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s Word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14-17)

God is God of the heavens and the earth. Do we really understand what this means? He created us for His own purposes. We were not designed to live of our own volition, by our own means, to our own ends. Jordan Peterson, in pondering the reality of Jesus Christ and all He is and stands for, stated, “It’s too terrifying a reality to fully believe. I don’t even know what would happen to you if you fully believed it.” This is absolutely profound, and absolute truth. Coming face to face with God should shake us to the core of our being, and transform our entire existence, from the very foundation, up.

Life should go from nothing to everything, from darkness to light, from death to life in every way. All old things should pass away and all things should become completely new in Him. God is wanting to teach us who He really is, instead of what we think we know Him to be. Are we willing to know Him on His terms?

This is the season we are in. Open your hands. Purify your hearts. Weep. Mourn. Let the dullness of this earth break off of you. Seek God with a desperation of your entire being that will not stop until He has all of you, and until you have all of Him.

Then Peter answered Him, saying, “Behold, we have left [our] all and have become Your disciples [sided with Your party and followed You]. What then shall we receive?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, in the new age (the Messianic rebirth of the world), when the Son of Man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have [become My disciples, sided with My party and] followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And anyone and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for My name’s sake will receive many [even a hundred] times more and will inherit eternal life. But many who [now] are first will be last [then], and many who [now] are last will be first [then]. (Matthew 19:27-30)