Living A Generous LifeSample

What’s Weighing You Down?  

We live in a culture where “more” is our favorite word. We love getting things, and we become consumed by consuming. Eventually, we realize that the temporary rush from getting something new wears off, so we do it again. And again. It’s a continuous cycle of consume, covet, and consume again. 

And we know that lifestyle doesn’t work. We’ve seen the damage it can do to our parents or to other adults we know. But we still get distracted by the shiny things promising happiness and then feel surprised when we feel so empty. 

Why? Because consumption never leads to happiness. True happiness comes not from what we get but from what we give. 

In today’s Scripture, we’ll see how this plays out for a man known as “the rich young ruler.” This guy had everything you could ever want, but then he met Jesus. He was intrigued, so he asked Jesus what it takes to follow Him. Jesus started out with the basic commands about obeying God and loving others, but then, Jesus threw him a curveball. 

Jesus said that to truly follow Him, the man needed to get rid of his stuff. And the man just couldn’t do it. So, he walked away feeling emptier than ever before, even though he had more things than most could imagine. Why would Jesus ask him to do this? Maybe because Jesus knows that the biggest competitor for our hearts is what’s in our hands. 

See, when we become consumed by what we get, we miss out on the relationship that only God can give. And that relationship is the only thing that will truly fulfill us. It’s easy to judge the guy in the story for missing this. But if we’re honest, all of us, at some point, have been like him. But all of us also have a choice about how we’ll respond. We all have a choice between being mastered by our stuff or being free to give everything to God. Which will you choose?  

Challenge: What stuff is keeping you from surrendering fully to God? What can you do to change your priorities to put God first?