I've been studying a lot recently on what it means to totally follow Christ. I have been looking at discipleship and full commitment of my life to Him for whatever purpose He sees fit. I read this passage this morning and I found it interesting. I have been reminded often of the rich young ruler in the Scripture this posting is talking about. I'll post it and then I have a few comments.
THE "GO" OF UNCONDITIONAL IDENTIFICATION
"One thing thou lackest: . . come, take up the cross, and follow Me." Mark 10:21
The rich young ruler had the master passion to be perfect. When he saw Jesus Christ, he wanted to be like Him. Our Lord never puts personal holiness to the fore when He calls a disciple; He puts absolute annihilation of my right to myself and identification with Himself - a relationship with Himself in which there is no other relationship. Luke 14:26 has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification, but with unconditional identification with Jesus Christ. Very few of us know the absolute "go" of abandonment to Jesus.
"Then Jesus beholding him loved him." The look of Jesus will mean a heart broken for ever from allegiance to any other person or thing. Has Jesus ever looked at you? The look of Jesus transforms and transfixes. Where you are "soft" with God is where the Lord has looked at you. If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on your own way, certain that the other person is more likely to be in the wrong than you are, it is an indication that there are whole tracts of your nature that have never been transformed by His gaze.
"One thing thou lackest . . ." The only "good thing" from Jesus Christ's point of view is union with Himself and nothing in between.
"Sell whatsoever thou hast . ." I must reduce myself until I am a mere conscious man, I must fundamentally renounce possessions of all kinds, not to save my soul (only one thing saves a man - absolute reliance upon Jesus Christ) - but in order to follow Jesus. "Come, and follow Me." And the road is the way He went.
How many times in my life have I had that strong desire to follow Jesus, but when He tells me what is required I shrink back? There is definitely a counting of cost involved in following the Master. The Scripture talks about not starting something you can't finish, even in terms of service to Jesus. You must first look at what it really means to serve the Lord, to take up your cross and follow Him. This is, many times, the hardest part of Christian living. We want to do what is right, what is noble, but we also want our rights to ourselves. We want the blessings of following Him without paying price that is required. That, however, is not possible when you are following Jesus. Only absolute obedience to the direction of the Lord will be pleasing to Him, but He does not leave us destitute in this difficult decision. He promises that His grace is sufficient to carry us through the sacrifices we will make and the struggles we will face as we walk the road He leads us on. He promised that His yoke was easy and His burden light, and when you are totally focused on Him, full of love for Him, and letting Him carry you all the way, you will find that indeed His load for you is so much lighter than anything you will ever carry on your own.
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