One Thing You Lack

Mark 10:21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

Whether the score is 35-0 or 35-34, the team that lost still lost. The deficit may have been only one point, but one point is the difference between winning and losing. At the end of the game, lacking one (point or run or wicket) is the same as lacking 100.

Spiritual realities do not exactly parallel these sporting realities. Every one of us is lacking before God. We are not lacking in just one or two ways, but in many ways. Since we are saved by grace, that does not matter; we can still be saved.

But here in Mark 10 we have Jesus telling a young man that his lack of just one thing will keep him from the spiritual peace that he seeks. To correct the one thing he lacks he does not need to acquire something, but to give something up. What he must give up is himself.

Like many of us, he defined himself largely in terms of his possessions. Perhaps he was a man "worth millions." He had to give that up.

Like nearly all of us, he wanted to be in control of his future. He wanted to decide where he would go and what he would do. But Jesus says, "You must give that up as well. You must follow me."

The one thing he lacked was total commitment to the will of God. Lacking that one thing, he could not be saved, not even by grace.

He was a fine young man. He was highly moral, highly religious, highly respected, and wealthy. But all of this could not save him. He trusted in self rather than in the Lord; and he went away sorrowfully.

We must give up on self; we must depend on Christ alone; or we too will go away sorrowfully in the end.