“And a ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: “Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.”‘ And he said, ‘All these I have kept from my youth.’ When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.” Luke 18:18-23
This man was already obeying God’s commands. However, when Jesus made it personal—in this case, asked him to treat his material stuff as just stuff and follow Him literally—this guy, who initially sought Jesus out, walked away. It didn’t make him one bit happy to do it, either. Obviously, happiness was not this ruler’s desire. What he desired was assurance that he had rule of his own life!
Then there’s the story about the man Jesus freed from demon-possession.* This time, the man asked if he could follow, but Jesus told him to go home!
While the rich guy was desperate to acquire tips to feel more in control of his own destiny, the man freed from demon-possession knew Jesus as Savior (duh), and obeyed; he went home and told everyone about what Jesus did for him.
God’s call on an individual life is always very personal. Misinterpreting God’s call is one problem, but defying it is another. Lightning may not strike, but a lightning strike would be a mercy compared to the emptiness that enters a life, after that life meets Jesus, but walks away.
“To have a master and to be mastered is not the same thing. To have a master means that there is one who knows me better than I know myself, one who is closer than a friend, one who fathoms the remotest abyss of my heart and satisfies it, one who has brought me into the secure sense that he has met and solved every perplexity and problem of my mind. To have a master is this and nothing less—’One is your Master, even Christ’.” —Oswald Chambers
*Mark 5