And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Luke 18:18.
The young man who asked Jesus what he should do that he might have eternal life was answered: “Keep the commandments.”
The character of God is expressed in His law; and in order for you to be in harmony with God, the principles of His law must be the spring of your every action….
To the words, “Keep the commandments,” the young man answered, “Which?” … Christ was speaking of the law given from Sinai. He mentioned several commandments from the second table of the Decalogue….
The young man answered without hesitation, “All these things have I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet?” His conception of the law was external and superficial. Judged by a human standard, he had preserved an unblemished character. To a great degree his outward life had been free from guilt; he verily thought that his obedience had been without a flaw. Yet he had a secret fear that all was not right between his soul and God. This prompted the question, “What lack I yet?”
“If thou wilt be perfect,” Christ said, “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow Me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.”
The lover of self is a transgressor of the law. This Jesus desired to reveal to the young man, and He gave him a test that would make manifest the selfishness of his heart. He showed him the plague spot in his character. The young man desired no further enlightenment. He had cherished an idol in the soul; the world was his god. He professed to have kept the commandments, but he was destitute of the principle which is the very spirit and life of them all. He did not possess true love for God or man. This want was the want of everything that would qualify him to enter the kingdom of heaven. In his love of self and worldly gain he was out of harmony with the principles of heaven.
Conflict and Courage p.299
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Prayer Requests
—–please keep Amber and Kristy in your prayers.. they both need to find Christ. and start going back to church. M
—–The husband of a fellow believer is in surgery from a roll over accident with a tractor; he is not expected to survive. Mostly his spouse requests prayer for his soul; he has not accepted Jesus. Linda
—–Please pray that we have wisdom in a decision we must make. Rose
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Dear Friends,
From the time that my Grandfather, Edwin Harmon, came home from work until bedtime, I was his constant companion. Most evenings he would tell me wonderful stories from his own experiences, but sometimes he would tire of repeating them over and over. Then, he would ask me to sing to him, or we would play a drawing game.
One winter evening, he thought of something that had delighted him when he was a child. Tipping the lampshade so the light shone brightly on the wall, he began making shadow pictures of butterflies, ducks, bunnies, and many other things. I was delighted! Patiently, he showed me how to make these shadow pictures just like he did. From that time, we added this activity to our list of favorite evening pastimes.
Our brief life is like those shadow pictures. The psalmist tells us, “LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.” “My days are like a shadow that declineth, and I am withered like grass. But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever, and thy remembrance unto all generations.” Ps 144:3,4, 102:11,12 James asks, “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14 Peter adds, “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.” 1 Peter 1:24
How important it is, then, to make our “calling and election sure” while there is still time. 2 Peter 1:10 “Behold, now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor 6:2 “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts,” but accept Jesus’ great gift of salvation while the door of mercy is still standing open. Very soon it will be too late. Very soon those who have put off this most important of decisions will cry, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Jer 8:20
Our Dear Saviour pleads, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt 11:28-30 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy, and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Isa 55:1 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev 22:16
Peter warns us, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. ” 2 Peter 3:10-13
“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that [we] look for such things, [let us] be diligent that [we] may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” vs 14 Let us “keep [our] heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” Prov 4:23 Let us “study to show [ourselves] approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15
Rose
What Lack I?