Then, looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
Isn’t this the fundamental issue for all of us in a culture that has endless material ‘blessings’? Our stuff ushers in the cares and worries of this life and they choke the faith out of us. What are the implications? How does one hang onto his stuff and also follow Christ? Jesus makes this sound like an impossibility; however, many who have much are also making an effort to bless others with their stuff. We are even commanded in other teachings to use our stuff to make friends into eternity. Jesus tells us to use our blessings to bless others so that in eternity, when those who have nothing have everything, we will have someone to share with us.
It is a deep mystery and I hope I am not ignoring the personal implications of this command by justifying my inaction. I know very few Christians, if any, who have sold all of their possessions and have given them to the poor in order to follow Jesus. Is that knowledge meaningful or just another big so what?
I can say this confidently: If your stuff owns you, Jesus certainly doesn’t. You cannot serve both God and Money. We must hold loosely to the possessions in this life.
Ventanas 