“Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” Matthew 19:16-23
Focusing upon surrender these past days has brought some things more clear. To truly surrender to God means that God MUST be first – period. There is no negotiation on this point. If anything is before God, there can be no surrender. Worldly worries and troubles, job, salary, earthly treasures – any of these come before God and the soul is surrendered to them, not God.
Praying on this today, asking God what true surrender means, He gives me this story from Matthew’s Gospel. It struck me as if I had never heard it before. The rich man asks what “good deed” he could do to ‘have eternal life.” Jesus replies to follow the Commandments, listing off ““You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The man gets gleeful, “I have done all these.” Then, Jesus replies, “sell off everything and follow me.” We know the rich man walks away dejected and Jesus wraps up the event.
But, what I realized only today is that Jesus told the man to follow the Commandments, listing off the 4th through tenth (basically). All the worldly ones. Jesus left the top three off His list. The most important and sometimes most difficult Commandments to follow – Jesus left out. The man didn’t seem to noticed. His response was like, “YES! I’m a nice guy! I do the commandments!” ’ Then, Jesus followed up by telling the man to put God first. And the man’s spirits fell.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
When we follow all the Commandments but hold to the world over God, we miss all the Commandments. Our greatest treasure must be God.
That means I’m our lives and hearts we must put God first. Above all worldly items and desires, even over our fears, God first.
To surrender means, ‘cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority’ or to ‘abandon oneself entirely’. In order to surrender to God, holding nothing back, we must abandon ourself to God.
It is then that ‘we sell all we own’ and follow God. It is then that all the world’s possessions and fears fall away before the majesty of God. And, only then that we pass through the eye of the needle.
“For great is the LORD and highly to be praised; awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought, but the LORD made the heavens.” Psalm 96:4-5