Matthew 19:20<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe young man said to Him, \u2018All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?\u2019 \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n After Jesus told the young man that he needed to keep the commandments if he wanted to enter eternal life, the young man replied saying that he had already done all that; and yet he knew he needed more. The implication of his response was either he was presumptuous of his abilities and activities, or he was actually hungry for more. I think the young man knew that despite all that he had done, he was still below the expected mark. He knew he still lacked something, and he needed an answer to his inward restlessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so it ought to be with us. Meeting the basic requirements of the commandments is not sufficient. Going about the routine business of religious activities will not lead us to perfection. The unawareness of your spiritual lack is an indication that your situation is indeed very dire. We need to realize that there is more and we need to hunger for more. We need to go beyond self-sufficiency and seek the perfection that only comes to the restless and hungry soul. Don\u2019t say you\u2019re ok. Don\u2019t accept the narrative of theoretical perfection (for while we are made perfect by faith in Christ, we need to work out in practical terms, the experience and manifestation of that perfection). Be hungry for more. Let Jesus show you what next you need to do. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes Jesus, show me what next needs to be done. I don\u2019t accept that I am ok where I am. I know there are still gaps in my system and I want to move higher beyond where I am. So, help me O God not to settle here, in Jesus name. Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matthew 19:20 \u201cThe young man said to Him, \u2018All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?\u2019 \u201d After Jesus told the young man that he needed to keep the commandments if he wanted to enter eternal life, the young man replied saying that he had already done all that; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-reflections-from-matthew"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t