Today’s Encouragement is, “Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’” Matthew 19:21 ESV
Be Perfect –
He prided himself on his efforts to be good, obeying the Law of Moses in every way. This Law was the religion of the Jews when Jesus came to earth. But Jesus exposed the perfection required by the law and showed how it was impossible to be right with God through obedience to the Law (Matthew 5-7). Instead, He clearly stated that He had fulfilled all of the Law (Matthew 5:17).
My friend, we are forever free from striving to be good enough!
We never can be except through Jesus!
Consider—Why would He teach us that we are like sheep? Sheep don’t strive to be good or obey every rule of the shepherd—they don’t have enough sense! Rather, they are led! They follow their shepherd, trusting in Him alone to feed and protect them! They are simply “being His.”
We think we are strong and can do great things to show God and others how sincere our faith is. We believe we can “Do” our way to God’s favor and His Love… but my friend, He loves because it is His nature, He IS Love. He doesn’t love us because we are good, or because of our efforts to be good people, or because of our obedience to Him. He loves us because we are His own; through Christ, we are His… a state of Being, not Doing.
Thank You, Father, for creating the Way for us to be saved by Jesus rather than by our puny attempts at doing good.
Come as you are
Crowder
Today’s Encouragement 