…sell all the you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven ~ Luke 14:22, ESV
Quick Sip
Another lesson I learned from the road is that people and relationships are what matters most. It is so easy to get caught up in our house, our stuff, and our to-do lists, but with moving so much over the last year, I’ve learned when you leave a place, it’s the people that stick with you.
Think of it like this. When we were in school many of us were so focused on what were wore, who we hung out with, if we were part of the “cool” crowed or not. Looking back it’s easy to see that none of that stuff really mattered at all. What would have had lasting significance would have been being kind to the person others were mean to, and sitting down to lunch with the person who was all alone.
This is the perspective Jesus so desperately wanted to leave with us during his time here on earth. Stuff doesn’t matter. People do. In Luke 14:12-14 he tells a man who is giving a banquet to not invite his friends or rich neighbors, but to reach out to the crippled, the sick, and the poor who could not pay him back.
Then in Luke 18:18-27, he tells the rich young ruler to “sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Luke 14:22, ESV). Over and over again in the gospels, Jesus focuses on people. Often I have wondered how he could have such a clear perspective, but I’m beginning to see that like us looking back at our school days, Jesus has a different perspective on this life than we do.
No wonder he tells the disciples at the last supper, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Love like Jesus’ love that sets aside our stuff and ourselves takes a huge paradigm shift. It’s not natural to value people so much.
My prayer for me and for you is that God will work in us and begin to give us more and more of his perspective on this life. To help us see clearly that things don’t matter and people do.
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