Faithful Friday Faves: Luke

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I hesitated over two or three passages...and a couple of recurring themes...as I skimmed through Luke, but the one that got my attention was a familiar story with a note I wrote beside it. I can't remember if I made the observation or if I was listening to someone who made the observation, but it started some wheels turning so it's today's pick:

"You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"

"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him , "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. - Lk 18: 20 - 23

The note in my margin is next to verse 20 and it points out that the commandments Jesus listed were the ones that had to do with how people interact with one another. Of the rest, one is about attitude ('Do not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor') and the other four are about our relationship to God ('Do not worship anything in the place of God, do not make idols for yourselves, do not misuse the name of the Lord and keep the Sabbath holy')

Remember, Jesus has said that the two great commandments are 'Love God' and 'Love your neighbor'. He put the question to the rich fellow about loving his neighbor...and the ruler was quite happy to respond that he'd been doing that his whole life.

But, when Jesus pointed out that he missed the first commandment - Love God with everything you've got - the guy was hit with grief.

Because when it came down to it...he couldn't part with his possessions to give God first place.

And I don't think he realized it until that precise moment.

We all have those pivotal moments when God speaks to us...could be in any number of ways...and we see in a flash that we had no idea what was really going on.

And, at that moment, we have a choice: Continue with the status quo, and go no further with Christ, or give up the thing that is distracting/consuming us and follow Him.

I've had mini-moments like that...and sometimes I've chosen rightly, and sometimes I have not.

The grief of missing the opportunity has ALWAYS been greater than the grief of giving up the distraction. You'd think I'd learn.

Fortunately, His mercies are new every morning. Someday, I will have learned...