Our paragraph topic is: (The rich young man speaks to Jesus) Part 11.
So Christ has given the young man all the commandments that he must follow to enter into the kingdom. He should not steal, not kill, not bear false witness, not commit adultery; he should honor his father and mother and love his neighbor. But as a good Jew he has committed himself to following all of these commandments. What more is there to do? Why does he not feel that he will attain his goal. What is wanting in his life that holds him back?
These are lingering questions that hang in the back of his mind. These are the doubts that give cause to concern that he has not done everything that he can. He sees Christ. He feels the presence of Christ and his disciples. He desires to have that something that they have which sets them apart. He wants to be in the inner circle with the disciples. What holds him? The young man said to him, "All these I must have kept; what is yet wanting to me?"
What is yet wanting? What have I missed? What am I not getting in this world that will let me know that I am close to God? I keep the commandments. I follow the prescribed laws of the church. But I do not feel certain that there is a God who loves me. I have not found what I need to fill the emptiness, to fill the hole, to complete me inside. Why do I feel this loneliness, this darkness, this sense of struggle within? These are the questions that the rich young man may have asked himself and that we may even ask ourselves today. There are questions.
We do have questions. We do seek answers. We want to have a connection, a feeling of certainty, something to hold onto that lets us know for sure that we belong to a living God. The world would have us believe that there is no God. The world would have us partake in the joys of today and forget about the commandments that our Father has given us to live by. Go about your daily routine! Think not about what God has given you to do! You are safe just by going to church on Sunday. Live the other six days according to the world and you will be alright.
These are the concepts and beliefs by which the world has given us to live. Yet is there nothing more that we may have to guide us, to be with us, to demonstrate the love to us, to protect us, provide for us? Can we not know our Father more than just on a superficial level? What more is wanting in us? Dig deeper, I say. Seek more, I believe. Desire to know truly, you can. But the heart must be sincere. The heart must seek to know from within.
The mind does not know. The heart will see. The heart will feel. The heart will know the truth of who is the Father, and who is the Son, and who is the Holy Spirit. You must want, more than anything else that you have ever wanted in your life. Your desire must burn from within. You are willing to do anything in search of Him who you seek. And with that desire, with that burning, with that open heart, he will come to you. He will speak to you. He will touch you to let you know for certain that he is with you. And he will send the Advocate to be with you always that you may have a guide to give you a right judgment in all things. And then you will see beyond all doubt that you are real and nothing else in this world matters except His love. What else is yet wanting?
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
So Christ has given the young man all the commandments that he must follow to enter into the kingdom. He should not steal, not kill, not bear false witness, not commit adultery; he should honor his father and mother and love his neighbor. But as a good Jew he has committed himself to following all of these commandments. What more is there to do? Why does he not feel that he will attain his goal. What is wanting in his life that holds him back?
These are lingering questions that hang in the back of his mind. These are the doubts that give cause to concern that he has not done everything that he can. He sees Christ. He feels the presence of Christ and his disciples. He desires to have that something that they have which sets them apart. He wants to be in the inner circle with the disciples. What holds him? The young man said to him, "All these I must have kept; what is yet wanting to me?"
What is yet wanting? What have I missed? What am I not getting in this world that will let me know that I am close to God? I keep the commandments. I follow the prescribed laws of the church. But I do not feel certain that there is a God who loves me. I have not found what I need to fill the emptiness, to fill the hole, to complete me inside. Why do I feel this loneliness, this darkness, this sense of struggle within? These are the questions that the rich young man may have asked himself and that we may even ask ourselves today. There are questions.
We do have questions. We do seek answers. We want to have a connection, a feeling of certainty, something to hold onto that lets us know for sure that we belong to a living God. The world would have us believe that there is no God. The world would have us partake in the joys of today and forget about the commandments that our Father has given us to live by. Go about your daily routine! Think not about what God has given you to do! You are safe just by going to church on Sunday. Live the other six days according to the world and you will be alright.
These are the concepts and beliefs by which the world has given us to live. Yet is there nothing more that we may have to guide us, to be with us, to demonstrate the love to us, to protect us, provide for us? Can we not know our Father more than just on a superficial level? What more is wanting in us? Dig deeper, I say. Seek more, I believe. Desire to know truly, you can. But the heart must be sincere. The heart must seek to know from within.
The mind does not know. The heart will see. The heart will feel. The heart will know the truth of who is the Father, and who is the Son, and who is the Holy Spirit. You must want, more than anything else that you have ever wanted in your life. Your desire must burn from within. You are willing to do anything in search of Him who you seek. And with that desire, with that burning, with that open heart, he will come to you. He will speak to you. He will touch you to let you know for certain that he is with you. And he will send the Advocate to be with you always that you may have a guide to give you a right judgment in all things. And then you will see beyond all doubt that you are real and nothing else in this world matters except His love. What else is yet wanting?
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
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