09/08/20 SELL ALL ?! — A wealthy young man once asked Jesus what he could DO to obtain eternal life. He claimed he had obeyed nearly ALL the Ten Commandments PERFECTLY his entire life (?). Mark 10:21 (CSB) gives us Jesus’ final response: “ Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: GO, SELL ALL YOU HAVE AND GIVE TO THE POOR, and YOU WILL HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN. THEN COME, FOLLOW ME.’”

Note that Jesus LOVED him; He was NOT trying to be sarcastic or hard-nosed. Jesus knew that “THE MORE STUFF WE HAVE, THE MORE THE STUFF HAS US”! And Jesus requires our TOTAL attention and devotion.

How many of us have read that passage and thought, ”Wow, I’m glad Jesus does NOT expect ME to sell all my stuff!”? So many of us CLAIM all the wonderful promises in Scripture, but IGNORE all the passages we don’t like. But in Luke 12:33-34 Jesus told His DISCIPLES, “SELL YOUR POSSESSIONS AND GIVE TO THE POOR. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, AN INEXHAUSTIBLE TREASURE IN HEAVEN, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

In Acts 5:4 Peter scolded Ananias for his lying and deceit; the apostle declared that selling one’s property to help the poor was OPTIONAL. But clearly Jesus expects (ALL?) His followers to accumulate heavenly treasure by helping the poor rather than personal earthly riches for themselves. Let’s all be a lot more careful which Bible passages we embrace and which ones we ignore.