Walking Away

Matthew 19:22 ~ "When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

What will it be that Christ requires you to give up in order to follow Him? 

We look at the rich young man from Matthew 19:16-22 and discover in this story a good man, a man who kept the moral law but still had an urgency in his heart to have eternal life. In fact, that was the primary question he asked when he came to Jesus: "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life" (Matthew 19:16). 

The question the young man asks is telling, for in it we discover the condition of his heart: "what good deed must I do?" He had kept the law of God, and still knew that something was lacking (see verse 20). Yet, in his heart he could see no other process to gain eternal life than for himself to accomplish something--anything--that would bring him into the good company of God.

Anything that is... except one thing.

This rich young man had great wealth. We know nothing of how he acquired it, perhaps by great industry or perhaps by inheritance. It doesn't matter how he came by his wealth, he would not part with it. He was in love with his possessions and to depart from them would not happen. And so, he walked away sorrowful. 

Consider the story of Demas. In Colossians 4:14, Demas was a partner with the Apostle Paul. By the time 2 Timothy was written, Demas had departed. We read of his desertion in 2 Timothy 4:10a, "For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica." That was the tragic end of the story of Demas, he was in love with the world and deserted.

The words of our Lord are clear on this--we must be willing to let all things go for His sake. Self-denial and cross bearing are two conditions of following Jesus. Consider the conditions given by Christ in Luke 9:23, "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"

One of the problems faced by many is that they think the relinquishing of whatever it is they cling to will somehow invalidate their lives. They have to hold on to it or else they stop being who they are. And in some aspect, it's true. The wealth of the world, the pleasures of the flesh, even the turmoil of our own soul can become our only identifying characteristic. And to lose that is to lose everything we love.

And the only thing people do who love what they hold is to walk away from the One who will give them what they really need--eternal life. Jesus is waiting to give eternal life to anyone who will release their death-grip on what they love in this world and take hold of Him. In simpler terms: Jesus will give salvation to all who repent and put their faith in Him.

Look at the promise Jesus gives in Mark 10:29-30. “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life."

​The ultimate question is simple: which direction will you walk? Will you walk away from Christ, holding fast to those things that you love and refuse to relinquish? Or, will you walk away from the world and all the self-interest you hold with it in order to follow Jesus? 

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

---