Follow Me – Matthew 19:16-22

Matthew 19:16-22

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 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.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

I am really chewing on this story today. I read a really interesting article by Donald Miller over on the Relevant Magazine website that has me re-reading this story. There is certainly always so much depth to what Jesus says to the people around him. If you have been a Christ follower for any length of time you are well aware of the layers upon layers of depth and meaning there are in Christs’ words. What I hear the Spirit whispering to me today is to take special note of verse 21. I believe Jesus is saying “give up your life and follow me if you want to be perfect.” I am most definitely no where near perfect. . and yet. . .I find myself longing to abandon all and simply sit at the feet of Christ. I want to follow him. . .but sell all I have? Is this to be taken verbally? Or do we miss the point if we take this too literally?

Today, I hear Jesus saying. . .follow me. Your hands need to work, your kids need to eat, your husband needs your help, but above all else follow me. Follow me while you work, and cook, and clean and shop and eat and talk and walk and exercise and read and live. You can follow me in everything and give your life to me right now. Drop your “crap” and follow me. That doesn’t mean leave your home. . it means follow me and make it count.

Father, I hear your call today. Forgive me for my divided attentions. Help me to focus on you this week. Help me to make you everything and tune out all the needless distractions. Jesus. . let me follow you, show me how that should look today. Am I getting it right? If not. .show me how you want me to do it! Show me how to “sell all I have” and follow you.