To Have Eternal Life.

To have eternal life, to know your abundant life in Christ, what must you do? - Matthew 19:16

And Christ replies, "Sell all you have and give... then come follow me." Sell, then come. Give, then come. Your treasure, the thing you hold onto dearly. Your self-built safety net of protection. That you rely on, that you hide behind and hold tightly, for fear of being truly seen and rejected, for fear of being disapproved of and ridiculed. That treasure, that safety net. Sell it all, then come.

Because to come to Christ, as we are, we must come without our treasures and our crowns, without our trophies and our labels and achievements. Yes, to come and to let Christ be to us all we need, we must give up everything that gives a sense of protection from life, everything we rely on and depend on apart from Christ. Every supposedly reliable safety-net. We must give it all up, to simply come. And to follow, Jesus.

And it takes time. To learn to give them up. It takes time. To learn to no longer rely on them. It takes time. To let go, to 'sell all', to follow Him whole-heartedly. And Christ knows.

Because the past reactions and habits and behaviours, they go deep. And those past treasures that we once held onto, that once identified us, they go deep.

But now, you so long for Christ, and for the past to be gone. And Christ knows.

So when you stumble and you fall, again and again. Know He cares. Simply come to Him, again and again. And when you find yourself stuck in those same feelings of despair that arise every time that same thing happens. Know He knows. Know He cares. So you can simply come to Him, every time. Because that is eternal life. To come, follow Jesus.

And your soul feels it, with utter amazement at the absolute completeness of Christ's work in you. You know it every time you find yourself allowing Christ be your only safety-net. You know it every time you run to Him.

That Christ is life, eternal life!

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"Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare of the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him." - Psalm 91:1-2