In Matthew 19, we read about a man that came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask Me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One Who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Whic ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neightbor as yourelf.'"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Pause.
Why did the young man confess that he still lacked? Why didn't he say, "Awesome! I've done it. Rad! Thanks, man!"
It's obvious that he knew that he still lacked something.
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."
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Can you imagine if he would've done that? Perhaps he would've breathed new life into the band of people who followed Jesus. Perhaps he would've become the 13th disciple. Or perhaps he would've rec'd the choice when the 11 replaced Judas. Who knows what this guy might've turned out like had he taken Jesus up on His offer.
I wonder what kind of regret he lived with, knowing he didn't want his goal bad enough, and so he gave up on it. Perhaps we can see him in heaven if he chose to follow Christ later...
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at October 4, 2005 11:56 AM