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“With God, All Things Are Possible, But Not Easy”

As my wife and I were driving to the local YMCA office this morning to have our income taxes figured, we noticed the marquee sign in front of the Baptist church building which read:

“With God, all things are possible, but not easy.”

The words of this marquee sign has to do with the text found in Matthew 19:16-26. Jesus had just concluded telling the rich young ruler what he had to sacrifice in order to be an acceptable disciple, but he was not willing to make such a sacrifice (Matthew 19:20-22; cf. Matthew 16:24).

In His disciples’ hearing, the Lord then makes the observation that individuals who are materially rich, will find it very difficult [“hard”] (Matthew 19:23) (as the marquee sign stated, “but not easy” — see commentary) to enter into the kingdom of heaven, because of their allegiance to material possessions. However, with the right attitude of heart, it’s not impossible.

Our Lord then states, “with God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26) God always leaves an individual with the ability to “choose” allegiance to material things, or allegiance to Him — to place our trust in “uncertain riches” (cf. Proverbs 23:5; 1 Timothy 6:17), or to place our trust in God (Proverbs 3:5-6) — the choice is always ours. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having possessions, “if” we don’t allow them to possess us (Acts 5:1-11; cf. Matthew 6:33; 1 Timothy 6:10; 1 Timothy 6:17-19).

The bottom line is this: Through the saving gospel of Christ, (Romans 1:16; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14) God has made it “possible” for anyone to be a successful disciple [follower] of Christ (John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:8-10). However, we must be willing to give God our “whole heart,“ no matter the amount of possessions or money we may have (cf. Numbers 14:24,30; Numbers 32:6-13; Joshua 14:8-9). If God has our whole heart, He can use our possessions and money to help and bless others less fortunate (cf. Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Acts 2:44-45; Acts 4:32-37; Acts 11:27-30; 1 John 3:17-18), thereby blessing us as well (cf. Proverbs 3:9-10; Malachi 3:10).

To the rich young ruler, the idea of giving of his “whole heart” to the Lord, in order to follow Him, was too big a price and sacrifice to pay.

Remember the marquee sign? “With God, all things are possible, but not easy.”