Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life? Why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied. There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments. Which ones?, the man enquired. Jesus replied, ’Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ’love your neighbor as yourself.’ All these I have kept, the young man said. What do I still lack? Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me". When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew 19:16-22.
When we were small kids we love to play jigsaw puzzles. It is cool playing them even now that we are grown-up adults (with childishness sometimes), so to speak, especially when the picture model attracts our interests. But when we can’t complete the picture model and are having real hard time finding for a piece or two, we get frustrated and irritated at times. That is true in our own lives, both in the material and spiritual realm. We all aim to reach a stage of life that we can call, "A Fulfilled Life!", don’t we? But, my friend, how much effort we exert and struggles we wrestle past, unless our fulfillment is grounded on the rock of our salvation, we still slide down into a misery hole - a place of lack.
The young man in our reading passage had all the earthly assets it would take for a person to be labeled, in human standard, "a fulfilled life". He was young, rich, famous and most probably respected and influential. If you are still young, healthy and energetic you would have a clear insight of what I wish to envisage. You will never forget your blooming years. But during those years we also trade all our strength, skills and even health to earn a fortune, and more likely, if coupled with hard work, earn what we yearn – to become rich and famous. During our sunset years we do otherwise. We trade all our fortune to earn our strength, skills and even health.
Life, in this world, is never complete and fulfilled. Freddie Aguilar got it right in his song, "Ang tao ay sadyang walang kasiyahan". But that is when your life and everything that you hold dear to your self are not attributed to the Rock of our salvation. Let us therefore examine our selves and see if there is any unturned stone in our lives that might be causing that empty space, that LACK, in our life!
First, check your Perception about Salvation. The rich young man asked, "What good thing must I do to get eternal life?" That’s where the missing piece lies. He thought eternal life is earned by hard works or good works. The apostle Paul explained clearly, "For by grace you have been saved (past tense) through faith – and this not from your selves, it is the gift of God; not by works so that no one can boast" Ephesians 2 : 8, 9. How many explanations have we learned to describe and define the grace of God? Language experts define it as an "unmerited favor". True. Some articulate and creative writers take GRACE as an acronym - God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Perfect. Others go further to describe grace as an act of God in giving us (sinners) what we did not deserve (eternal life), and not giving us (sinners) what we deserved (eternal death). Excellent. But there is a lot more about the grace of God, which no human wisdom and understanding can ever explain. To me, personally, it’s a thing from God that makes me exclaim, "WOW". But grace that is left to itself without receiving it remains just a "wow" thing – not a wonderful thing. It must be received by faith. The apostle Paul made it plain and simple, "through faith". The writers of the bible had discussed faith in different angles, but at the same substance. The apostle Paul clearly states that faith is "Personal". It is a channel where a man is connected with the Almighty God. In the sight of God, you do not need any good work to prove that you have faith in Him. But the apostle James discussed it in a different angle. He asserts that faith is "Practical". In the sight of men, you need good works to prove that you have faith in God. There must be evidences of good works to prove to the world that your faith is practically working in your life. Otherwise, it is not faith at all. So faith is confirmed by who your audience is. To prove it to God, you do not need good works because He knows your heart. To prove it to men, you need good works because they do no know your heart. Faith results to a genuine new life, not a new file.
Second, check your Perception about your Self. The rich young man, after Jesus advised him to obey the commandments, looked to himself and said, "All these I have kept, what do I still lack?". He had no idea whatsoever on the sin-depravity of mankind. He is a picture of a good moral person who thinks of himself approved of men and of God. He’s rich, young, influential, and perhaps well respected in the community. That is where the missing piece of his life lies. He was self-righteous, self-made, self-sufficient, and self-confident but still feeling the pangs of cold emptiness. He should have understood that his life in this world is "Temporal". His physical strength, professional status, and even his properties and resources are all temporary. They can be lost at any given time. Also, he missed to see the most important thing in life – his spiritual life, which is "Eternal". The most important components of our life are our worship of God, fellowship with the brethren and relationship with the people in the world around us. One of the grandsons of Confucius had three insights in knowing your self. He said, you need to ask your self three questions: one, "Have I sinned in my thoughts and actions toward others?"; two, "Have I broken faith in any of my friendships?"; three, "Have I tried to teach anything to others I have not fully learned and understood myself?" Have you ever paused for a moment and pondered about your life? Are you glorifying God in the way you conduct your life? Do you find yourself at home with the Lord in your fellowship with the brethren? Are you living a life that proclaims to the sinful world the goodness of the Lord and the power of His saving grace?
Third, check your Perception about Satisfaction. After the young rich man confidently insisted that he already kept all the laws, Jesus obliged him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Where the lack lies, sometimes, is where our happiness and fulfillment lies – our pursuit of happiness. What a wonderful series of actions Jesus prescribed – Go, Sell, Give. That is where the fulfillment of life is laid. But we often distort it by not doing the last action – give. Instead of giving, we follow this series – Go, Sell, and Grab. That’s the path to loneliness. It is a command to surrender our lives to God, fully, without reservation. Your wealth, work and wisdom need to be surrendered to the Lord of heavens. But spiritual life, an abundant life of a disciple, is not only about charity work. It culminates to the command of Jesus, "come, follow me". It is a call to imitate Christ. But we often distort it by our motto in life – go and follow your cravings.
Do you feel a vacuum in your life? Do you seem to be chasing a rainbow’s end? Do you feel that there is a LACK in your life? Check your perception about salvation; check your perception about your self; and check your perception about satisfaction. A completely and perfectly done jigsaw puzzle is fantastic, just like a life in Christ is, when there is not a single piece that is missing.
