"I-M-POSSIBLE"

Message I had prepared for my message in the Christos Mar Thoma Church, Kenger, as part of the Youth Week Deputation program on the 19th of October, 2008.

Mark 10:17 - 31
(See also: Mathew 19:16-30, Luke 18:18-30)

This passage talks about a man who was

• young
• a ruler (see Luke)
• law-abiding
• humble (he got onto his knees when he met Jesus)
  
• rich
• on a quest

People today feel that money is the be-all and end-all to all things done on earth. But here was a young man, who knew that having all the money is not important. But being assured of eternal life was all that he wanted to know about.
This is infact the very sentiments that Paul talks about in his letter to the Philippians (see ch. 3)

He was a perfect man in the sense of the world

• He had obeyed the commandments since his youth.Youth, in my opinion, is the time when children tend to go the wrong way. In their childhood, parents are their answer to all things. But as they grow, then tend to start hiding things from their parents, lying, stealing and even not honoring their parents. This tendency is more when a child is brought up in riches. But here was a man, who was probably born in riches who has kept the commandments.
• His claim to obedience was not a sham. It was a reality. This is the reason Jesus loved him when he looked at him (v21). Jesus could see the heart of any person. So for Jesus to have loved him, indicates just how good this rich man actually was.

Jesus wanted him to come out his comfort zone

• Some people may seem to be perfect in the eyes of the world. But God knows our weaknesses, and knows that those weaknesses make us imperfect.
• Your imperfection is no reason for Jesus to not love you. He infact loves you inspite of your weaknesses. But He wants you to be ready to leave your comfort zones if you want to be perfect in His eyes.
• This is one of the reasons why Jesus mentions that you can't enter the kingdom of God unless you enter it as a child. Children are very quick to leaving the comfort zones when they are with their parents. If you have ever played the game of tossing a baby in the air and catching it, you'd have seen the joy on the baby's face, when it is in mid-air. For a baby, the comfort is in the arms of it's parent. But when it's parent were to toss it in the air, it is not scared because it completely trusts that it's parent knows what to do. But as the baby grows up, it is easily scared.
• God wants us to be like those babies. When He asks you to leave what you have for His sake, then you should be willing to leave all that you have. Because a God who has created you, also knows your needs, and will provide for the same.

When you give up something for God, He'll give you a 100 times more

• This is probably the most wrongly quoted verse from the Bible. Here God is not talking about your money. He is talking about your attitude.
• When you give up your house or family for the Lord, and go places, you are bound to meet a lot of people. God intends each one of these people we meet to be like an extension to our families. Their homes to be like our homes.
• When Jesus asks the apostles to go out in 2s, He told them that when they enter a town, they were to stay in a house all the time they are in the town. When you are a guest in a house, you feel uncomfortable after a few days. By asking them to stay there for their entire time in a town, Jesus was telling them that that place is going to be their home away from home. (Luke 10)
  
• Jesus on the cross was still thinking of his mother. He knew his mother was losing a son for the extension of God's kingdom. Hence he told her that John was her son, and told John that this was his mother. (John 19)
  
• But not all people are called to leave homes and family for His kingdom. Some people are called to be hosts too. This requires a lot of sacrifices too. When you have guests staying over at your place, you will endure quite some inconveniences like loss of privacy, loss of comforts like watching TV when you want.

Impossible for man, possible through God

• Sometimes giving up something is not every easy. Infact it seems like the toughest thing to do or even impossible. But when you put your trust in God and ask Him for help, He'll make all things possible. All He wants us to do is to put our complete trust that He will take it to completion.

We need to put in our efforts, but always remember that,
Even IMPOSSIBLE actually spells out as "I AM POSSIBLE", and our God is the great "I AM".