Giving It All You Have Got
By Jean Mulquin
“Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?’…’If you want to give it all you’ve got,’ Jesus replied, ‘go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.’
That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.
As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, ‘Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom? Let me tell you, it’s easier to gallop a camel through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.'”
Matthew 19:16-24 (MSG)
Many times we are called to, “Give it all you’ve got”. When my husband and I answered the call to come to Maricopa, it was tough going for over a year. But we held on to the promises God had given us since we first met Katie. The promise that I cherished most was Deuteronomy 11:10-12 (MSG).
“The land you are entering to take up ownership isn’t like Egypt, the land you left, where you had to plant your own seed and water it yourselves as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are about to cross the river and take for your own is a land of mountains and valleys; it drinks water that rains from the sky. It’s a land that God, your God, personally tends—he’s the gardener—he alone keeps his eye on it all year long.”
We moved to Maricopa in August of 2010, and slept on an air mattress in the Accounting office until one of our partners leased their beautiful rental to us. In August of 2011, we went on a marathon house hunting excursion (not a good idea in 115-degree weather), and I cried like a baby right in front of our sweet realtor because I was beginning to give up hope that we would ever be able to get moved to our own place in Maricopa.
Just a few days later, I opened my email and there was a picture of a beautiful home! John and I “knew” it was the one, so we called the realtor and told her, “Put a bid on it. We don’t even have to see it!”
The house was absolutely perfect for us and had everything we could have asked for. I pictured the Creator up in heaven with His notepad, “Jean wants an inside laundry room (check). John wants a bit bigger garage (check) – needs to be north facing (check), no grass (check)….!
The best part was that it was only a couple of blocks from Katie and Robert’s home (they have since moved) and our mailbox number is 11 – Box 1! (Deuteronomy 1:11 thousand-fold increase reference.)
Katie whooped and hollered when she and Robert came over to see it the first time. “Your house is bigger than ours!” she happily cried. We were all so full of joy that night.
God worked out every detail for us to be able to lease our old home to my foster daughter and her husband. He moved every obstacle that the lending companies tried to throw our way, and I know it was because we were willing to “give it all we had to follow Jesus”!
Are you willing to “give it all you’ve got” to follow Jesus? If not, what do you think might be preventing you from doing that?
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