Give All or Most...

To the Young Rich Leader who claimed perfection, Jesus reads his heart and mind and soul - and tells him to sell everything he owns. Not just sell it but give the proceeds to the poor

...and be left with nothing but an authentic trust in the Lord. Genuine Faith.

In Lukes Gospel, in the very next chapter we meet Zacchaeus, a jewish tax collector, seemingly a traitor working for the filthy Romans.

When Zac was acknowledged by Jesus on the road, before Jesus even had an opportunity to personally challenge him, Zac repents.

'Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor...[and to those I've ripped off] I will pay back four times the amount.'

To the Perfect Rich Leader, Jesus had to confront with a heavy challenge in order to see Truth.

To the filthy traitor tax collector, Jesus only had to acknowledge him and he was willing to repent.

What's interesting is what each man is convicted to give to follow Jesus. The Rich Leader was externally convicted to give up everything, it's what he needed to do in the deepest recesses of his heart to see Jesus' righteousness and find salvation.

Zacchaeus, however, was internally convicted to only give half of his possessions, not all possessions like the Rich Leader. Sure he would pay back those he stole from 4x over but Jesus never had to challenge him to leave his home, belongings or family. Zacchaeus understood repentance to find salvation.

From the Garden until today, God desires a righteous and willing heart to connect with. Even more - having a pure heart is great but without action the heart never experiences true holiness. Zacchaeus didn't have to give everything up - his heart connected with Jesus' truth and his actions showed this.

Maybe I need to give more than I have.
Maybe I need to search my heart the way Jesus does.
I truly hope the American Dream and all it's economic instability doesn't pull me down to the bloody depths...

Taken from Lukes Gospel 18:18-30/19:1-10