Maybe you remember the story which chronicles the encounter between Jesus and a man we know as the Rich Young Ruler. The privileged young man came to Jesus and asked an eternally important question, "How do I make it into Heaven?" Before Jesus could answer, he presented his impressive pedigree which included a nearly perfect record in commandment keeping. He was, by his own reckoning, a nearly perfect candidate for Heaven. However, Jesus offered a different perspective. He congratulated the young man for his morality and clean slate. Then He said, "But, if you want to see Heaven, you need to go and sell all you have and give it to the poor. Then, you need to follow me." In reality, he was simply asking the young man to make the pursuit of faith his number one priority. The Bible says, "that he went away sad" because he felt the cost was too high. May I ask if there is anything in your life so valuable that it takes priority over Jesus? It's very easy to choose the material over the spiritual and the temporary over the eternal. When you make the easy choice, you will rarely be following Jesus. Truth is following always involves sacrifice; certainly not one of our favorite words. I'm much more interested in the benefits of Christ-Following than in the sacrifices. But as soon as the Rich Young Ruler departed, Jesus turned to his disciples and explained an extraordinary mathematical truth, WHATEVER YOU SACRIFICE IN MY NAME WILL BE RETURNED TO YOU 100X OVER. Now, that's a deal you can't pass up!
