Matthew 19:16-24There is a difference between believing in Jesus and actually following Him. Many people would say that “I believe in Jesus” or “I believe in God,” but even Satan and his demons believe in Jesus (James 2:19). So there must be a difference. I have noticed here in Sudan that most everyone will say “I believe in Jesus,” but how many of us are genuinely following Him? And what does “following Jesus” mean?
And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “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 would enter 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, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Jesus told this man to follow the commandments, and He tests him against the Ten Commandments, but then only half of them—the half that deals with man’s relationship to his neighbor (the first half deals with man’s relationship to God). And the young rich man does admirably towards his fellow man, but still he says to Jesus, “what do I lack?”
We often fail to recognize that the greatest commandment is in Deuteronomy 6:4, which Moses gave to the Israelites 3500 years ago. He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And 1500 years after Moses, when Jesus was asked, He also said the greatest commandment is to “love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Many people say “I believe in Jesus,” but do you love Him? Because the one thing that God has desired more than anything else for all time has been that you love Him entirely. Yes, it is important that we do good works, but Jesus says “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). So what God really cares about is your heart.
The young rich man’s problem is not that he is rich and has many things, it is that he loved his many possessions more than he loved Jesus! And this is idolatry! And this is sin. Jesus tells the man, “leave everything behind; and come, follow Me,” and he could not do it. Having wealth is not sin; God judges the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). But the same could be said of Sudan. If you have many cows, or even if you have only one cow, and Jesus said, “give it away and come, follow Me,” could you do it? Would you follow Him? Or would you choose your cows? Some will object that “this is culture”—yes it is. And will you choose your culture, or will you choose your God?
I come from a different culture. My culture tells me to party at every opportunity, to get drunk, to abuse drugs, to get as much sex as I can (and outside marriage). I have some friends who go to university, not to glorify God, but to glorify themselves—to become rich, to have a big house and many cars, so that other men will honor and respect them. They would rather have glory from men than approval from God. But again, God looks at the heart.
Jesus goes further. In Matthew 10:37-38 He says, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Why?—why does God say this? Because, as the Bible says, “The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). He loves you, and He wants all of you—all your heart, mind, and soul—so much that He even became a man Jesus Christ who suffered with us, healing sickness and disease, removing shame and fear and sin, and freeing us from death. He is the demonstrated love of God (Romans 5:8). He lives today, and He wants to take residence in your heart. Some of you say, “I go to church” “I go to mass” “I have times of devotion” “I pray” and God says, “That’s not enough for Me. I want your heart.” And that’s the one thing the young rich man could not give. He wasn’t a murderer. He wasn’t a thief. He didn’t lie. He probably went to synagogue. But when Jesus looked at him and said, “Leave behind your possessions; I want to be your first love; and come, follow Me,” he couldn’t do it.
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