You can say, "oh, I have turned everything over to the Lord and He controls my life and my things." But do you really practice that? If we knowingly hold back anything, we are still in control.
We can say, "But God controls 95 percent of my life, so He is really the One who is in control." Not true. If we are holding anything back, then we are in control, for when we say, "God, you can have 95 percent of me; I'll just hold on to this 5 percent," we are actually saying that we are still the one who decides what to give and what not to give! We are still the controller.
Possess nothing! Let no "thing" posses you! Give it all to the Lord for His control!
Read Matthew 19:16-30. What does this passage teach about possessing things? Does it really teach that we have to give up everything we have to get to heaven? How do we give up the things that possess us? What does this passage teach about the "What's in it for me?" attitude so prevalent today?
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I have read, and re-read this passage several times. Each time I read it I seem to learn more about the Blessedness of Possessing Nothing, than I learn about possessing things. One thing that really stuck out to me in this passage was the danger of possessing things. The young man who came to Jesus was willing to DO anything, but wasnt willing to GIVE everything. He held his possessions in such a high place within his heart that he was more sorrowful over the idea of giving all to follow the Lord, than he was over his lack of willingness to give all to follow the Lord. As I was reading through chapter 2 I often found myself in this same selfish state of mind. But as Tozer says "If we refuse one step, we bring our progress to an end." This was the hardest part for me. The idea that I couldnt hold one little thing back...I had to give ALL to the Lord.
ReplyDeleteI dont think that this passage teaches we have to give all we have to get to Heaven, but I do think that- like Tozer says- we need to reach a point of "Soul Poverty" I think we need to remove the "treasures" from the temple in our heart and allow God to take His rightful place there. Tozer describes these treasures as not only possessons but as loved realitives and friends. Like Abraham, who treasured Isaac, he came to a point that he trusted God with his treasure. Abraham had many things, but he possessed nothing. He gave all to the Lord.
I love how Tozer puts how we are to give up our possessions. We need to come before God "Determined to be heard" Then we need to "insist that He accept our all." Only then will we allow God to take His rightful place in our hearts.
When reading Matthew 19:16-30 I found that I cannot have the "Whats in it for me?" attitude and follow God. I can either follow that selfish thought or follow God...I cannot follow both.
~I had a really hard time answering each question this time, but I really, really enjoyed digging deeper into my Bible, and will continue to beg the Lord to help me understand and obey each new concept I'am learning from this study!
Well, I will have to say that Renee pretty much said everything that I would have.
ReplyDeleteI did find this chapter a very hard one to take, but I think that for anyone to have to consider giving up the treasures of their heart is always going to be a hard thing to take.
I have heard the story of Abraham and Isaac time and time again, yet the way Tozer told the story was very new to me. I know that everyone has things that they treasure and things that hold their heart. For Abraham, it was his only son, Isaac...for me, I would have to say it would be my future. There are some things that I really desire for my life, and that is something that I have always tried to make happen. When I finally let go of that, by giving it to God and letting him be the one to make it happen instead of trying to do it in and of myself, I can already see how God is working in those things. Things that were before something I wanted but I could never see it happening, I can now see how God could make some things work. And all it took was me letting go of my wants and desires, and begging God to take them and do something with them...use for his work instead of just because I wanted it.
I really long to be like Abraham, who had EVERYTHING, yet possessed NOTHING. God possessed his all, and I hope that I can honestly say that God now possesses my all.