"Loving God More"

"Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me." (Matthew 19:21) The perfect here is again the word 'teleios', which is the destination; or, as I said yesterday, it is complete. The thing that would make it complete in the example given, was who Jesus was talking to; a young rich man, who had told Jesus that he had kept God's commandments from his youth, after Jesus listed God's commands when the young man asked, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?". There was something that this young man loved more than God, which was his riches, as we see in verse 22, "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions". I too would be a little uneasy in my seat whenever this portion of Scripture was taught, because I was always waiting for the one teaching it to call everyone to give everything away to the poor; and not knowing what I would do if they did. What would I do? Right now, I think I would gladly; ten years ago, I think I would sadly. What do I think has changed in my life to make that claim? I think the biggest change has been my love for God; not that I did not love God before, but that I did not love Him with all that I had within me. How can we love God with all of our might? This is not much different than the question that the disciples asked in amazement, in verse 25: "Who then shall be saved?"; which was asked when Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God". Again, the word perfect comes into the picture; which is the only thing that can possibly make the impossible happen: God's perfection is absolute; man's is relative. The perfect (teleios) is one who has attained moral maturity, the goal for which he was intended, namely, to be a man obedient in Christ. It really does not matter what the subject matter is, or how much of it we are talking about; but what really matters is whether or not we are willing to give it up for the Lord. Whether it is riches, or whether it is sin; there is no difference when it comes to the things we place between us and God, or the things that we love more than Him. Now then; when it comes to Love, I need some great improvement in this area, because the real question remaining in my heart, is not necessarily about whether I would be willing to give everything away, but to what cause? Do you understand my question? Okay, how about this one: For what purpose am I willing to give it all away? Is it for Love? "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)