Introduction
What does everyone call people to be? People call others to selfishness, to have the perfect body, to earn ungodly amounts of money, to sex, to a higher education, and the list goes on and on.
Ultimately, as Shakespeare says: “All that glitters is gold”
Selfish people would attract selfish people, yet it is a surprise that we question why:
“Why does my girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse treat me so badly?”
“Why do people leave me when troubles comes”
Money
1 Timothy 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Even money is uncertain, many millionaires especially billionaires lose all their money. Multi-millionaires such as MC Hammer, Michael Jackson, Shia Lebouf were bankrupt. Money has been such a heated topic of debate especially as you can lose everything in an instant. The banks we use can easily become bankrupt, losing all of the money stored. Companies holding your money can lose it all. Elon Musk overnight lost 200 billion US dollars, through the plunging of stocks from his company Tesla.
Sex
We can be so eager to find pleasure, jumping from it one night after the other. Only to realise the grief, fear and regreat that comes with the news that you or your partner got pregnant.
Pleasure
A life chasing pleasures is mere fantasy. Just like being offered a free donut, pleasure may come from the first bite. Disgust and hatred come after the 15th or 20th donut. Same goes with pleasure, pleasure works with diminishing returns. Just like that Satan will after getting you hooked on pleasure get it to kill you. Pleasure will get you addicted on drugs, alcohol, vices, bad habits until you find yourself unable to change yourself or your circumstance.
Education
Many chase after education, only to realise that there is no end. In truth, our college degree or successive postgraduate program is out of date, as the textbooks it’s based on is 20 years old.
Ultimately, the world will call you to chase possessions, titles, and so many other things to attain happiness. Those that fall for it will only find that the answer is not in the world but it in God
Point 1: Do you see it?
Luke 18:18-23 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. When 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.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.
God wants to call you to greatness, but do you see it that way?
Going back into the passage, we have to ask: why was the man sad? He focused on what he had to give up this would include his riches and his comforts, instead of focusing on what he would gain from that sacrifice. Not everyone who followed Jesus had to sell everything, yet for him it was his love of comfort that stopped him from being great in the eyes of Jesus. What is stopping you today?
Most people see following Jesus as ultimately restrictive, but in truth is the complete opposite. A man giving up smoking would not only save $300,000 and ultimately his life! He would be able to run 4-5 more marathons in his 40’s and 50’s rather than bed-ridden at that age from the complications of smoking. Yet to the observer and to the smoker, it seems restrictive if he does not want to give it up.
What Jesus is calling you to give up is the one thing that is restricting you from being great. Is he asking you to give up a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a certain job or is it like the man, your comforts? If you are unwilling to give it up, you have to see now these things have a control over you, than you over it.
No pain, no gain
Luke 18:24-25 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
The reason why many don’t become great is because they have settled to be simply “good”. The opposite of being great is not being bad, but to many people’s surprise is to be “mediocre”. Many people’s dreams today have devolved from going to the moon to know simply “surviving”. Many today only dream of laziness, watching TV, sleeping all day and living a comfortable life. Many buy into this fantasy only to be bitter at many who have achieved even greater things. This state could easily be referred to as lukewarm, being neither hot nor cold.
Revelation 3:15-16 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Point 2: Do you believe it?
Luke 18:26-30 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Do you only believe in the possible?
If people had only dreamt of what was possible many of the things we have today would never be achieved. Going to the moon, having the internet, having mobile phones, heart transplants and even running a 4 minute mile were impossible 50 years ago today. It only seems impossible until you see one person achieve it. We see Jesus coming back from the dead, yet we are still talking about it. It just goes to show God can do the impossible, so what impossible thing have you given up seeing change?
The world has given up on many things.
It has given up on:
- Marriages
- Happy families
- Forgiving people
- Giving
- Dreaming for a better world
Today we have more medicine, technology, food and knowledge than any other age of humanity. The things above are the most possible today than ever before. Yet war surrounds us, famine still goes unchecked, old diseases exist and more diseases are born. Selfishness is the most destructive disease alive today, and it kills more people than anything else in this world.
If only everyone would follow Jesus, there would be no:
- Rapes
- Pornography
- Child abuse
- Prostitution
- Divorce
- Bitterness
- Suicides
- Depression
People would would walk around secure, happy, feeling loved. If people could change just from three words from Jesus, this world would be different:
Matthew 5:44 love your enemies
Conclusion
This man could have been a somebody, a disciple or even an Apostle of Jesus Himself, instead he remains a nobody.
Today it is time to respond to God’s call for your life, study the bible right after church and learn how God wants to make you into a somebody. How God wants to make you great!