Verse: “Yet lackest thou one thing; sell all that thou hast…and come, follow Me.“
– Luke 18:22
Quote: “Our Lord never pleaded, He never cajoled, He never entrapped; He simply spoke the sternest words mortal ears ever listened to, and then left it alone.”
God wants to give you every opportunity possible to live the life He has designed for you, but He is not going to force you to; that does Him no good. He also isn’t going to promise you that everything will be easy for you, because it more than likely is not going to be. God lays out the truth, and lets you decide what to do with it.
Chambers says that if Christ’s words have never pierced you the way they did the rich man from the above verse, then you have probably never heard Christ speak. That is to say that until you are completely His, there is always something in your life that you don’t want to be reminded of, and when a rebuke comes with the undeniable authority of the voice of Christ, it penetrates deep down and shakes you to the core.
The rich man heard the penetrating voice and left discouraged, but Christ knows that His Word never returns void, so He allowed the man to leave. When you feel discouraged, remember that no one lives the life of Christ on their own strength. Give to God all that He asks, and trust that He will get you to where He wants you to be.
Tags: all, Are You Discouraged in Devotion, Bible, daily devotion, give, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Luke 18:22, My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers, trust