How To FInd The Peace You Have Been Looking For

My Utmost For His Highest

 

Jesus…said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor…and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." —Mark 10:21

 

“The rich young ruler had the controlling passion to be perfect. […] Jesus’ primary consideration is my absolute annihilation of my right to myself and my identification with Him, which means having a relationship with Him in which there are no other relationships. Luke 14:26 has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification, but deals solely with unconditional identification with Jesus Christ. Very few of us truly know what is meant by the absolute “go” of unconditional identification with, and abandonment and surrender to, Jesus. […] If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on having your own way, and always certain that the other person is more likely to be in the wrong than you are, then there are whole areas of your nature that have never been transformed by His gaze.[…] I must essentially renounce possessions of all kinds, not for salvation (for only one thing saves a person and that is absolute reliance in faith upon Jesus Christ), but to follow Jesus. “…come…and follow Me.”” CHAMBERS

 

The young man had defined what it meant to be “good enough” to go to heaven.  To have eternal life.  He was absolutely certain that he had checked all of the boxes.  But Jesus, who saw his heart, knew that the most important thing, the place where relationships with God must start is this … the man did not love God more than other things.  He did not trust God more than other things.  In this case money and possessions.  We are willing to do a lot of things to be religious, but to be a follower means that we must surrender everything, not just a lot of things.  We must surrender that one thing that we find so hard to give up, trust in ourselves.  This new life we live is all about faith.  Do I have enough faith to follow Jesus wherever  He might lead me?  Or do His plans conflict with my plans.  God is constantly interrupting the events in our lives, it seems.  Just when we think we have it figured out and are settling into the comfort of knowing, God shows up.  He says “follow Me this way”.  Ugh!  The way is uncertain.  We can’t see very far ahead and we want to.  Such is the life of faith.  But …. when we decide to rest in Him.  When we stop trusting in ourselves … we find the peace we have been looking for. (Matthew 11:28-30) “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” ELGIN