“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliott

What Jesus specifically said to the rich young ruler doesn’t apply to all Christians. For Jesus doesn’t require us to sell everything we have necessarily. Rather, if we are to claim Jesus is Lord, he must be Lord of all our lives, he must be put first. For if he is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all. As such, we must surrender all that we have to him and his service. (Of course, this may require us to sell everything we have, depending on what our idols are!)

This may seem extreme, but if we compare what Jesus offers with what we this world offers, there is no comparison. For what Jesus offers is eternal life, to know God. What Jesus offers is fellowship with God. What more could we ask for, but almighty God?

Jesus then lists examples of what people must surrender…

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Mt 19:29

Whatever we have which we have kept from God needs to be surrendered to him. For the world will tell us we must put ourselves first, to only think of the here and now, but Jesus says it will only drag us down and make us last, both in this life and in eternity. For our chief good both in this life and in eternity is intimately tied up with putting ourselves last and putting God first.

Are we clinging onto that which will make us last or first?

If our faith is in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, not only will he forgive us our sin, but he will release us from from its power. For the law of God condemns us because of our sin. There is nothing wrong with the law, but there is something wrong with us.

The law cannot be changed, for it is the law of God who is holy and just. When we look around, we agree with God’s law, for we want people to love each other, we don’t want people to murder, steal or bear false witness. When we look within though, we react against it, for it shows us up for what we really are, sinners who fall short of God’s standard.

Yet, Jesus offers us a complete solution. Through faith in him, he offers to stand in our place, to become sin for us, and for his righteousness to become ours, that we might be righteous, that we might be law keepers, before God. Not only that but he offers to change us from within, that his Spirit would slowly change us, enabling us to keep the law. Not that the change will be instantaneous, for we will sin until we die, but our sin will grieve us more and more and we will fight it all the more.