to be complete. . . august 18th

to be complete is that not what every person seeks. do we not all ache to fill the emptiness that is in our lives. we too often seek to fill that void with a relationship, a job, a house, or a hobby. Yet, no matter what, those things don't complete us. a person, a thing, a place can't complete us. i have realized this truth over the last couple weeks.

i have been pressed with the truth that i have found in matthew. a rich young ruler comes to Jesus and asks what it is that he needs to do to be saved. Jesus responds that he should obey the commandments, the rich young ruler feels confident. he has kept the commandments. Jesus then tells him "if you want to be COMPLETE, go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor and come follow me." the rich young ruler was dissapointed, he had put his trust, his completeness in his possesions, yet Christ was saying that he wasn't complete.

i can't help but wonder what would happen if we applied this truth in our lives. what if we sold our possessions and if we sought Christ with everything we had. of course it goes against reason and doesn't make sense.

the things that make sense are -

-getting a good job
-having insurance
-being financially secure
-having an established retirement

somehow these things are not making people complete, but are causing increasing -

-anxiety
-stress
-depression
-emptiness

perhaps we should take Christ at his word. give of ourselves and find that in all of our pursuits of

-clothing
-nice houses
-power
-security

we are not complete.

Christ says to give it up and follow him. it doesn't make sense, but in His truth we will find

-peace
-joy
-fulfillment
and we will be complete!