ON THE JOB TRAINING (PART 2)

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” – LUKE 18:18-22

A young man asked Jesus how to obtain eternal life, and He told him what to do and the lad said that he had done these things. Jesus had quoted the commandments of which no one has kept. But then He said to him, “Sell all and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; and come follow Me.”

The rich boy became sorrowful when he heard that he would have to give his riches away because his wealth had his heart. Today if a wealthy man would ask most preachers this question, they would have led them in a prayer, invited them to church and made them a deacon in charge of the finances. Discipleship is demanding and one cannot have anything in his life that would hold him captive, or create a stronghold that would capture his heart.

One morning years ago, I was looking for property for a residential program with a millionaire friend of mine when he asked me why his church didn’t put him over the finances, after all he was very successful (Founder of Cash America)? Before he could answer, he answered his own question telling me that he had given a very large donation to them with a stipulation that he would tell them how to spend it and then he said, “I guess I AM over the finances!”

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. – LUKE 9:23,24