How much do I have to give up?

Matthew 19:16-26

A rich man wanted to know what he could do to obtain eternal life. Christ told him to keep all the commandments. The rich man said he kept all the commandments. So, Christ told the rich man to give everything up, give it to the poor, and follow Him. The rich man went away greived because he had much.

When we come to the cross, the Lord gives us a free gift of salvation. As we accept that gift and choose to follow Him and become His disciple, we keep the free gift, but then He asks us to set down EVERYTHING for Him. Once we chose Him, we must pick up our cross to follow Him. We are told in Exodus 34:14 that our God is a jealous God, and we can have no other gods before Him. We are called to submit all of our plans to Him in Proverbs 16:3.

How much do you have to give up? You have to be willing to give everything up for the Lord. This means that we must submit every part of our life to Him--our riches, our careers, our families, our vacations, our prayer time, and our Sunday mornings. All things are submitted to Him. In much the same way as the rich man is told to give up everything, we are also asked to give up everything.

For some of us, we came to Christ at a time when we were so broken that we were desperate to follow Him exactly as He called us to do. Over time, as He puts the pieces of our life right before Him. Then we picked up habits that seemed right. We made choices that were not necessarily wrong, but the habits and choices were not God’s will for our life. The habits and choices might not be sinful in a legalistic way, but they suffocate what the Lord had for us.

For others, we began to walk with the Lord early in life or during a time when everything looked great. We were not in a place where we needed to remodel our life to fit into God’s call completely. Our life looked okay, and stepping into faith required little change. Our life seemed okay but it was not fully submitted to God's will. The okay-ness overshadowed what the Lord wanted for us.

God’s call on our life changes everything--how we spend our time, who we spend our time with, and what we find as important. As the Bible story about the rich man in Matthew 19:16-29, we must submit everything to the Lordship of Christ. It requires a total commitment to God. Are you committed completely to God? Following Christ takes daily dedication.

When was the last time you took an inventory of your life? What in your life would you “go away grieving” if Christ called you to give it up? Is there anything in your life that you would "go away grieving" if the Lord called on you to change?

Finally, how committed are you to the Lord? Are you all in? Now is the time to recommit. If you are all in with the Lord, then type “all in” in the comments. If it fits, share something you heard from the Lord about commitment recently.