To: Resolute Conservative
Luke 18
22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
23When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"
27Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
28Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"
29"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life." Have you sold everything you have and given it to the poor and left your home, wife, family, children for the sake of the kingdom of God?
No, because you don't take everything literally in the Bible.
Did Jesus mean this literally?
Luke 14
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sistersyes, even his own lifehe cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
91 posted on
07/25/2007 2:33:55 PM PDT by
GraniteStateConservative
(...He had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here...-- Worst.President.Ever.)
To: GraniteStateConservative
No it means that I am not perfect enough in my faith to make that leap. A point that I pray about repeatedly.
To: GraniteStateConservative
Have you sold everything you have and given it to the poor and left your home, wife, family, children for the sake of the kingdom of God?
Jesus was showing the rich young ruler his heart. He wanted to go home and bury his father - not that his father was dead yet - only that once he did that he would inherit it all. If he left before that - he wouldn't inherit anything. So his heart really wasn't on following Jesus.
If anyone follows Christ - and has non-believers in their family - there is opposition. Many disown their own because of it. So if someone decides not to follow Christ because of family ties, he cannot be 'one of His'.
If everyone that followed Christ sold everything and was pennyless, who would support the ministries? God wants us to prosper even as our soul prospers. When it comes to scripture, one needs to know what lesson Jesus is showing us. We don't seek after fame/fortune. Seek the Kingdom of God first and He supplies everything we need - according to His Will. And He will pour out blessings more than we can contain or ask for.
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