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.” (Matthew 19:21)
If you ask a new mother why she gets up in the night to feed her
child, pushing to the point of exhaustion or why she cares for and
talks to the child, keeping him warm or changing his diapers, most
likely a mom’s answer will not be because she has to or she is
following a set of rules or laws. The fact is, mothers nurture and care
for their children because it’s just what they do. They learn and grow,
get better and develop skills as time passes, but moms do what they do
because of who they are.
In Mathew 19:21, Jesus is having an interaction with a young man of
great wealth who had measured his whole life by accomplishing things.
This man was doing what he did based on others’ expectations or living
up to a set of rules and laws. Jesus used this extreme example of
selling everything as a way to illustrate to this young ruler that a
life of following Christ is not based on an external motivation but an
internal being. Doing what you do for Jesus is because of who you are,
not what you are told.
If we claim to follow Christ, loving others by serving is at the
core of this internal being. Like a new mother, serving is just
something we do because of who we are, not because of a set of rules or
laws regarding Christ follow-ship. As you begin this journey of moving
from first place to second, let these devotionals challenge you to
learn and develop skills in serving others. Today, pray and ask God to
guide you in moving from first to second place.
Posted on
Sun, June 7, 2009
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