I Still Lack

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” (Matthew 19:20, NIV 1984).

My Musings – This all stemmed from the young man’s initial question to Jesus. “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16, NIV 1984). One may just as well substitute the word “earn” for the word “get.” For those who believe in God and the hope of an eternal “reward,” this seems to be the predominant mindset. First, we do not automatically “get” this reward. Second, we must make sure we do enough to “earn” it.

All of us probably have known someone who has led such a stellar life (at least from outward appearances), that they must be among those who deserve it. On the other hand, we likely have known of people who were so bad that there was no way we could believe they would ever deserve it. And, if you’re like me, we would most likely put ourselves somewhere in between these two extremes, but probably with the good outweighing the bad.

But then there is always a degree of uncertainty. Do I need to do more? This particular young man believed he belonged in the stellar group. Jesus told him, “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments. 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.” (Matthew 19:17–19, NIV 1984). This was not an exhaustive list of the commandments, rather a representative one. The young man’s reply? “All these I have kept.” Sounds pretty stellar, if true. But still there is the uncertainty. If there is just one thing lacking that keeps the scale from tipping in the right direction, we want to know what it is so we can do it.

Jesus’ reply? “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.” (Matthew 19:21, NIV 1984). And there’s the rub, all of us have at least one thing we cannot let go of. “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” (Matthew 19:22, NIV 1984). And if we are honest, so do we (go “away sad”). And no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential, the “one thing” is more than enough to tip the scale in the wrong direction. “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.'” (James 2:9–11, NIV 1984).

My Advice – And that is why Jesus came. To do what we could not do. To tip the scales in our favor. “If only [we could] be careful to continue to do everything [He] commanded [us] and [would] keep the whole Law that [His] servant Moses gave [us],” (2 Kings 21:8, NIV 1984), He would not have had to go to the cross. For “all who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law.” (Galatians 3:10–11, NIV 1984). Either there is at least one thing we “still lack” or we are not “careful to continue to do everything [He] commanded.” Likely both.

But even though we cannot do the “one thing” we “still lack” the is still “one thing” we can do. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31, NIV 1984). It is, in fact, the one and only thing we can “do to get eternal life.” If there is one thing we ever do, let’s just make sure we do this.