"One Thing Thou Lackest"

He was a young, a ruler, and rich. According to the narrative, he came to Jesus asking: "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" to which Jesus, in part, replied, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:16-17, KJV). The rest of the dialogue was electric. "[The young man] saith unto Him, 'Which?' Jesus said, 'Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honour thy father and thy mother: and, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' The young man saith unto Him, 'All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?' Jesus said unto him, 'If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.' But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions" (vv. 18-22).

Having declared that he had kept the law, it was clear that loving God and his fellowman was not the priority it should have been. As Bible scholar Albert Barnes observes: "Jesus commanded him to [give up his wealth], therefore, to test his character, and to show him that he had not kept the law as he pretended, and thus to show him that he needed a better righteousness than his own. . . . He made an idol of his wealth. He loved it more than God. He had not kept the commandments from his youth up, nor had he kept them at all; and rather than do good with his treasures, and seek his salvation by obeying God, he chose to turn away from the Saviour and give over his inquiry about eternal life." In some ways the young man wanted what was in God's hand without being willing to let go of what was in his. Unfortunately, some of us are the same way. While there is nothing inherently wrong with owning things, we need to ensure that those things do not "own" us. It is interesting that in Mark's narrative, Jesus started His instructions to the young ruler with the words "One thing thou lackest" (Mark 10:21). The "one thing" was his inability or unwillingness to show that he loved God more than he loved things. When challenged to do so "he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."

In her poem "Treasures", Martha Snells-Nicholson, a bedridden invalid who suffered in pain for over 35 years from four incurable diseases, writes:

One by one He took them from me / All the things I valued most / Until I was empty-handed / Every glittering toy was lost / And I walked earth's highways, grieving / In my rags and poverty / Till I heard His voice inviting / "Lift your empty hands to Me!" / So I held my hands toward heaven / And He filled them with a store / Of His own transcendent riches / Till they could contain no more / And at last I comprehended / With my stupid mind and dull / That God COULD not pour His riches / Into hands already full!

The last sentence says it all. Are you willing to give up what is in your hands for what is in His?

The Guiding Hand

He had called her "Mom"; it seemed he was frightened by the rush-hour crowd exiting and entering the train. As we bobbed and weaved our way through, I watched them as they jostled their way to the exit. In a overwhelming crowd like this, it was easy for a child to become separated from a parent. However, with her hand on his shoulder this mother guided her son through this hustling mass of humanity before letting go of his shoulder and firmly holding his hand. If he held her hand, there was a strong possibility that he could let go and get lost in the crowd. Instead, with her holding him, he was secure. She would not let him go.

As the scene unfolded before me, it occurred to me that as we make our way through our Christian journey, we often speak of holding on to God. Yet how many times when we are overwhelmed and worn down by situations that crowd our lives, have we let go of His hand? For most of us this letting go is/was not intentional; it just seemed to happen. We doubt, we worry, we fear. Like the apostle Peter, distracted by the howling winds and the waves while walking on the lake in the dark towards Jesus who he could not see but whose voice he had heard, we begin to sink (see Matthew 14:22-22). For some of us, we haven't started to sink, we are fully under the water! Like a child who has lost his hold on his parent, we feel helpless and afraid.

Because of our inability to consistently hold on to His hand, we are reminded of God's words to His chosen people through the prophet Isaiah during one of their times of helplessness and fear: "I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 'Do not fear; I will help you'" (41:13, NIV). Read the verse again, slowly. While it was a promise made to them, by demonstrating His ability to do this, we too can ask Him to do the same for us. As we make our way through the crowd, so to speak, we can ask Him: "Lord, if I hold you the storms of life may pull me away from you, but if you hold me, nothing or no one can separate me from you so please, hold my hand!" When He holds us, no matter what comes our way, we are secure; we are safe.

In your walk with your Lord, who is holding whose hand? If you are holding on to His, will you let go and ask / allow Him to hold yours?

Modern Medicine and a Sovereign God

Modern science is a bit of a two-edged sword; wonderful in some ways and worrisome in others.  Because of a bum shoulder, I recently had to do an x-ray and an ultrasound. As I sat during the latter, I watched on the screen with much interest what the ultrasound was showing.  Some months ago I also did a stress echo test and watched in amazement my beating heart.  Science and technology allow the medical professional to see some things that are not possible to see with the eye and that is a good thing. Doctors need to know what is physically wrong in order to facilitate the process of fixing it. And therein lies the rub because they cannot see everything.
 
As I looked at the monitors during the procedures, it occurred to me that the marvels of medicine could not reveal what was emotionally or spiritually wrong.  A beating heart could be seen but a "heart" that is emotionally bruised, "broken", or spiritually depraved would and could not show up on an x-ray or an ultrasound. Often times the pain we feel in these areas is just as intense as physical pain. We shed what seems like buckets of tears because of the hurt we feel; hurt that no painkillers, prescribed or otherwise, can heal. However, where clinical professionals fail, it is good to know that we have One who never fails in any area. Everything pertaining to us is open before His eyes.
 
These thoughts came to mind as I reflected on the words of Jeremiah: "O LORD of hosts, You who test the righteous, Who see the mind and the heart" (20:12, NASB). In the New Testament the apostle Peter affirmed, "And God, who knows the heart..." (Acts 15:8).  In Romans 8:27-28 Paul writes, "And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."  It simply means that when we are hurting in places that others cannot see, we can rest assured that God sees and knows.
 
This realization should enable us to be transparent before Him; to know that we can come to Him and trust Him with our hurts, our brokenness, and our tears.  In fact, tears are a language that He fully understands and He is the only one qualified to heal "the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3). All because no matter how deep the hurt, He sees it all. Something that modern medicine cannot do. We serve an amazing God!

"I Speak Just As The Father Has Told Me"

For Christians everywhere, Jesus is the perfect model of what it means to do the will of God. While we often bring to God sacrifices that fall short of His clearly defined standards, we also tend to say and do things that are inconsistent with His expressed will. We know that in the Word of God we find the will of God, and so we are without excuse and cannot claim ignorance as to what is expected of us in thoughts, words, and deeds. In our humanity, the war between the flesh and the spirit is a constant struggle and doing the will of God is not always our first course of action (see Romans 7:18-25).

However, in the life of Jesus we see an incredible consistency. In conversations with His disciples, He made the startling statements, among others: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. . . . For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me" (John 5:19; 12:49, 50). With those statements, He affirms some profound truths: 1) He does nothing by Himself; 2) He does only what the Father does; 3) He speaks only what the Father tells Him.

It is worth remembering that though He was the Son of God, Jesus walked the earth as a man, born of a woman, and as such was subjected to the same limitations we are (see John 1:14; Philippians 2:5-8). For Him to speak the way He did was a result of the intimate relationship between Himself and the Father; a relationship of oneness that was forged by times of solitude and prayer. In Jesus, we see how surrendering our will for that of the Father puts us in the position of God working not only in us but through us. Jesus puts it this way: "Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work" (John 14:10).

Clearly, Jesus' mission was to do the will of the Father and to finish His work (John 4:34; 6:38). With Christ having returned to the Father, our mission is to do the will of the Father and to continue His work in the earth. By looking at Jesus' life we see the best way to accomplish this. It starts with solitude, prayer, and a surrendering of self and our will; getting to know the Father and what He wishes to accomplish in the earth in and through us, then going out and doing it. That is what Jesus did. Are you ready to be like Jesus?