Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him

Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Good morning again friends, I have been reading through the book of Mark in my nightly devotionals and came across this verse. It is such an encouragement to know that our Lord and Savior waits with open arms at everything in our life, and that He also gives opportunities for all people in life. If you will notice in the preceding verses that the young man came to Jesus, that is a wonderful first step if people could just take it. There was no pleading, or begging, or gimmicks. This young man came running and fell at the Lords feet. His question was one that all people really do ask whether rich or poor, or whether wise or barley educated! His question was what must I do to inherit eternal life? Now friends even the worst of people know whether they admit it publicly or not that there is more to this flesh than what we presently see, and this young man was concerned enough to ask what is it going to take to inherit it. Now Jesus being the truth, the way, and the life said unto the young man, because the Lord knew that this man had everything in life that was good compared to others of his time. One thing thou lackest…you see friends even though you may have all the money in the world, or that you may have all the education in the world there is one thing thou lackest…Jesus Christ! The Lord knew that this man would pay for himself to get into heaven, that this man would work to gain acceptance to get into heaven, and that this man would no doubt go to college to learn something to get into heaven, however that is not what the Lord said it takes to get there. The Lord told him, sell everything that you have, now the Lord knew that he of course had manifold amounts of money, and that was what has kept him all these years, it was this mans faith in his money that prevented him from taking the next step in his life for the Lord. Jesus knows that the money prevented him from going forward, but even more so was that which followed, take up the cross and follow me. No doubt this young man had been watching Jesus and His disciples from far off, and heard the kingdom message, and it stirred his heart to want to be with the Lord in heaven, however just desiring is not enough for faith, it is putting it into action. You see this mans money is what he thought had sustained him all this time, if he would have just accepted Jesus and followed after Him, then this man would have learned that there is a Lord in heaven that can provide for all his needs. We see the scriptures talk about the feeding of the four thousand, we see that the Lord knew when it was time for those that were following Him to stop and take rest. The Lord knows everything in our life and is able to meet that need and go exceedingly beyond that for His glory! If this young man would have just trusted the Lord to provide for him, and obeyed the Lord in following Him then I believe that this young man would have never looked back on what he previously had. Now friends it is easy for us to read about this, but what a joy it would be of we could just learn from this and sell what we have and follow after Jesus. Friends if we could let go of the things that hold us back from serving an awesome God, then I believe that we would see great things done by the Lord in our lives and in others. If we could get to a point of saying Lord whatsoever I have is yours by your grace, please use me and it for the furtherance of the gospel then I believe we would be acting in the way that the Lord was trying to get across to the rich young man. Friends, what hinders you today from giving up all that you have, to include your own selfish ways for the Lord that He may work mightily in your life? Friends what is in your life that you won’t give up that prevents you from falling on your face and asking for forgiveness and calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life? The Lord simply says as He has to so many….come, and follow me!