Let go of your idol

Call To Prayer

Title: Let go of your idol

By: Wale Lasisi

Date: 22.08.2024

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. [22] And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:21-22 KJV)

The desire of God is that all men be saved. However, he still gave men the power of choice and they have liberty to either accept the gift of salvation or reject it. In this world, there are a lot of different alternatives that men can decide to choose so as to stay away from the path of eternal life (Deut. 30:19).

In our text today, we see the rich young ruler who had embraced religion from a very young age but after listening to the teachings of the Lord Jesus, he was convicted in his heart and knew that he needed eternal life, hence, the question that he asked the master. However, the response he got from the Lord revealed his idol and the lack of ability to let go of it. He put the instruction he got about selling all he had and giving to the poor on one side of the balance and eternal life on the other of the balance and his unwillingness to sell all and give it out to the poor outweighed his desire for eternal life.

Many people today have idols that have kept them back from accessing the true salvation Christ gives while economic idols have also limited many believers from becoming true disciples and followers of Christ. Pursuit of a career has limited most working class to opening their bible only on Sundays when they religiously go to church while pursuit of money and desire to live a good life has taken many away from the Sunday services and replaced it with work (1 Tim. 6:10). There is a serious debate about whether or not to pay tithe because there is an idol hiding in the heart that we are unwilling to let go.

As long as the willingness to obey is missing, we will not be able to follow Him because he leads by instructions. This is a call to check our hearts to see whether we prioritise anything more than God and start to make amends by the help of the Holy Spirit. That riotous lifestyle will have to give way for your growth in Christ and you have to be willing to let go of it. As for many that are not yet in Christ, that idol has to be sacrificed at the cross.

Prayer point:

Let us thank God for His word today. Let us pray for grace to put away everything that constitute an hindrance to eternal life.