Give It All Away

Jerry Ousley (Faith Writers)
July 2, 2010
Christian Living

It was my dream car a 1969 Chevelle. It was used but it was mine. God had allowed yet another desire of my heart to become a reality. I had it a couple of years before Deb and I were married and for about a year after we were married.

Here's what happened. At the church we were attending a young couple came to the Lord. They were ready for a change in their lives and so they realized that only Christ could make a difference and they committed themselves to Him.

They were extremely poor and didn't even have an automobile to drive. A job opened up for him but he needed transportation to get there. Deb and I had two cars. They weren't new but they were dependable. We both worked at the same factory on the same shift and so we rode together. Very seldom did we use my Chevelle. God began speaking to my heart, "Jerry, you hardly ever drive that car anymore; only when it is convenient. Do you really need that car?"

"But God, that was a desire of my heart and You gave it to me. I wouldn't want to disrespect Your gift."

"It is your car and I gave it to you because I love you. But do you really need it?"

The battle raged in my mind as I worked. As badly as I didn't want to admit it God was speaking to my heart that we should give my Chevelle MY CHEVELLE to this couple. I'm here to tell you that it was not an easy decision. I took a break and walked over to where Deb was working and said, "Honey, I think God is telling me something but it's big. I'm not going to tell you what it is because if it really is the Lord then He will tell you too." There, it was out of my hands. It would take a miracle for her to know what was going on in my heart. I fully expected her to ponder over it a couple of days. If she did, maybe God would take it out of my heart. But before I turned to walk away she said, "The Lord is telling you to give your car to that couple isn't He?" What? Just like that? But she was right.

We gave it to them. We had to be obedient to the Lord. We met with them, signed the title over, and handed them the keys.

Before anyone says, "Wow! That was really a sacrifice to God," let me remind you that I didn't want to do it, so don't give us any credit; especially me!

In Matthew 19 a young man described as a "rich, young ruler" confronted Jesus. "Master, what do I need to do to be saved?" Jesus began quoting the Ten Commandments and the young man's face lit up. He had abided by those commandments his whole life. "Lord, I have kept the commandments from my youth up!" He thought that he must already be saved.

But then Jesus took that deep look that went beyond the man's face and magnified what was to be found in his heart. Jesus said, "One thing you lack; go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor and follow Me." We are told that the young man turned and went away sorrowfully. He couldn't give up his possessions.

Now-a-days many in the Christian world have interpreted that to mean that if you are rich or have great possessions that you can't be a Christian. But I want to point out that the same pride of being rich is no different than the pride of being poor. You see, it wasn't the riches that hindered the young man, but the pride of being rich and keeping all the commandments. This pride was harbored in his heart. The pride of being poor is no different than the pride of being rich. In either case the command is the same, "Sell all you have, give it to the poor and follow Me."

What Jesus meant by those words was that everything that hinders us from following Him must be cast away. Since the days of owning that car God has changed the desires of my heart. I no longer desire things, gifts and so forth. Oh, it's nice to have those things, but my true heart's desire is that I want what He wants. When we can make our heart desire to be formed to His will, then we are following Him. Everything else we might as well consider given away.

Jerry D. Ousley is the Author of five books, "Soul Challenge", "Soul Journey" "Ordeal" "The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional" and his first novel "The Shoe Tree." Listen to the daily broadcast Spirit Bread. Find out more by visiting www.spiritbread.com or email us at jousley@frontier.com

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS