Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 

So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” 

And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 

But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

–Mark 10:17-22 (nkjv)

Have you ever wondered, upon reading this, why Jesus answered the rich young ruler in this way?  I mean, way to scare someone off, right?  Why didn’t He just tell him to pray the sinner’s prayer?  Didn’t Jesus take a class in how to witness before He went out there and said things that made people want to walk away discouraged like that? 

Why did He say, “Sell whatever you have . . .” when He could have opened with, “Every man’s heart has a door . . .”?  Why did He say, “Take up the cross . . .” when He could have just told him how to get to Heaven?  Seriously, all this guy was asking for was eternal life—not how to be an extreme, radical, sold-out Christian.  He didn’t want to abandon everything.  He just wanted eternal life.  I’m sure he would have “prayed the prayer” if Jesus had simply offered it.  Why didn’t He?

Because He must be Lord of all.  He demands all or nothing.  And He tells us the Truth.  Because He Loves us.

You may not be inspired by the difficult words of Jesus or those who quote Him.  But you are being tested.  What will Jesus find?  A heart sorrowful and a man who walks away?  Or a disciple who counts the cost and then gives up everything to follow Him, to walk with Him, to love?

It’s up to you.

“God’s redemptive opportunities never come disguised.  Jesus Christ doesn’t coerce men to follow Him by pandering to the taste of the natural man.  He doesn’t sugar-coat His opportunities and then dangle them in front of us to lure us on.  All opportunities on His list have a fixed price: sacrifice.  They are available to those who repudiate self’s claims. 

A prospective missionary once came to me with this question: ‘Would it be possible for you to arrange for me to be sent where the communists won’t come?’  He was wanting to fit the opportunity for preaching the Gospel into the limited perspective of the circumference of his personal security.  If we could arrange this for him, he would be in the market, otherwise not at all.  He had to learn that God’s price is fixed.  He had to learn how bankrupt he was of the currency God asks in exchange for His opportunity.” 

–Arthur Mathews, ‘Born for Battle’

Copyrighted material, used with permission.