Stickiness

"As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'

'Why do you call me good?' Jesus asked. 'Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’

'Teacher,' the man replied, 'I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.'

Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. 'There is still one thing you haven’t done,' he told him. 'Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'

At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!'” Mark 10:17-23 NLT

When I read this passage it got me thinking. I've been on the same road as this man--have you? You try so hard to follow all the rules. Not only because you have to, but because of your love for Jesus, you want to.

So, here you are, thinking that you are on the squeaky street to heaven, when you run into Jesus. There He is, standing right by the side of the road, as if He is waiting for you. You're feeling pretty assured of your heaven bound position--so you ask Him--is there anything else I have to do?

Do you ever do this? Do you ever ask a question, thinking you know that answer? Do you think that the young man asked the question, thinking that maybe Jesus would say, "Oh, you are already so saved that there is nothing that you need to do", or something like it?

I think the young man was caught off guard. But what catches my heart was the part of the verse that I bold--Jesus felt genuine love for him. I picture Jesus standing there, knowing the young man's eager heart and true wishes, but also knowing the one thing that would hang him up--his love of riches. Jesus loved him for desiring to be with Him in heaven--but was saddened knowing that there was one thing stronger than the young man's love for Him.

Are you like that? I know I am. We try so hard and then there is this one last thing that just keeps hanging onto us like lint on a pair of black jeans or foxtails in your socks. You can shake and pull and even buy special gadgets to get rid of stuff we don't want on us and they are still there. Keeping us from our heart's desire--Eternity with Jesus.

There is only one gadget that you need in your life to get or keep the sticky stuff that we don't want in our lives away from us and I think you know what it is...you're right...Jesus.

Jesus just needs your open, willing spirit and heart to enter in and the rest, as they say, is history. Invite Him in. Give Him all your sticky stuff and don't take it back. Can you do that? Will you do that? Even if you have done it before, and for some reason, it's come back and stuck on you, give it to Jesus again. He will release you again and look at you with genuine love.