Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, 'Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?' Jesus said, 'Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.... If you want to give it all you've got... go sell your possessions: give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.' (19:16-21)
Then Peter chimed in, 'We left everything and followed you. What do we get out of it?' Jesus replied, 'Yes, you have followed me.... And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields - whatever - because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.' (19:27-28)
Because I only have glimpses of eternity, it can seem like a far-off place, something unreal. I have to ask myself again, am I taking God seriously by believing what He says about eternal life? That all my wealth will be there, not here. That all wrongs will be righted there. That I will joyfully dance with Him forever without the ugliness of my sin marring the beauty of it all. Like the rich young ruler, I struggle with what I see and what I can put my hands on right now. I know Jesus is calling me to something exponentially greater, more beautiful, perfectly complete - He's calling me to Himself.
"Jesus made it clear that life, real life - the life He died to give us - centers not on nice homes, happy families, and good health in a safe world with a booming economy but rather on knowing Jesus' Father as our Father - in good times and bad - and relating to His Father and everyone else the way Jesus does - in good times and bad. I think that's what it means to be holy. Holiness does not consist of doing good things and not doing bad things. Holiness is wrapped up in relating well, deeply, with love....
"And I know that despicable energy seeps out every time I relate with someone, every time I make a decision about anything, every time I drive my car. I want to be happy, to feel a certain way about myself and my life, and I think you and God and life - and other drivers - should cooperate. I want this world to feel more like home than it does.
"But I also want to know God, to follow Him, to be His servant, his friend. I want to dance with Him as well as I can now and look forward to dancing up a wonderfully happy and joyful storm forever.
"My opposing wants collide. God's first thirty-nine love letters [the Old Testament] have convinced me that the dark side will win unless he does something unimaginable.
"They've also convinced me that this world I'm trying to decorate to feel like home is a rat-infested hovel that I can never fix up to my liking. I can do a little but only God can turn this dump into a mansion. And He will. He promised to make all things new - me, you, everything on earth, even the earth itself, and the heavens. All things!" (Crabb, 66 LL)
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