The Rich Man and Me

Yesterday I was thinking about Mark 10:17 – the rich man who was being challenged to sell all.  This man sacrificed being with the Lord Jesus for the sake of his riches. The thing that he thought that he wanted and asked for, eternal life, he did not press into obtaining because other things got in the way. Yet how many times have I missed God or the thing that inwardly I seem to feel that I need?  Sometimes this happens in non spiritual areas.  I want a good relationship with my wife, yet yesterday I was so busy with puttering around that I missed the opportunity to cuddle up to her when she needed  some extra comfort after she had a stressful day.  At other times we miss the spiritual things that we really wanted because obeying the Lord seemed too much for us to sacrifice or we are just too caught up with the things around us.   We say that we want more of God in our life yet what do we put aside to get that? Or what do we not put aside that keeps us from obtaining our desire? Is it that movie, the T.V. program, the video game, the list goes on.  We want His Spirit yet get caught up with other things and miss what is truly of value.  For each of us there is something that our Lord says,” give this up, so you can obtain the greater thing”.  The desire is there but the “carry through” is what is lacking.  Truly we need our Lord to help us. The evil that I don’t want to do is what I do and the good that I don’t want to do, I end up doing!  Jesus help us! (Romans 7). How frail we are and how much we need our Lord to work through and in us.