One Thing Thou Lackest

Mark 10:21

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Jesus talked about a rich young man who thought that his riches could get him to Heaven. Not only did he trust in his riches, but he also trusted in his own good works to get him to Heaven. Jesus made it very clear that neither his riches nor his good words would ever get him to Heaven. Jesus had to bring this young man to the bottom of himself to see his depravity by showing him that he was not willing to leave everything he had to trust Christ to be his Saviour. Sadly, this young man rejected Christ’s way to get saved and chose his wealth all the way to Hell. However, in this story, we see there are four things that God requires of His children.

First, God requires you to live by faith. You will notice that Jesus said, sell whatsoever thou hast. This is a command to live by faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, But without faith it is impossible to please him:… Faith is the foundation of the Christian life. It is by faith that we are saved, and it is by faith that we are to live for Christ. If you must depend on what you have, you will never please God in your life. The reason God told this young man to sell what he had was because God wants us to learn that we must live by faith and not by sight.

Second, God requires you to live for others. You will notice that Jesus told this young man to sell what he had and give to the poor. Jesus was telling this young man he needed to live to supply the needs of others. You will never know the joy of living for Christ until you start living your life to meet the needs of others. There is a joy that is found in living for others that cannot be found when you live for self. The reason Jesus told this man to sell what he had first is because he would never live for others until he came to the point in his life that it was not about what he had that would bring joy, but that joy would come by living for others. If life must be about you, you will never know what true joy is in life. True joy comes by putting God first and living for others second.

Third, God requires you to die to self. Jesus told this man, take up thy cross. Unless you are willing to die to self, you will never know what it is like to live for God. You cannot live for God and for selfish pleasures at the same time. The flesh and the Spirit cannot coexist with each other. You must die to self so that the Spirit of God can live in fullness through you.

Fourth, God requires you to live your life to win souls. The last thing Jesus said to this young man was to follow Him. Matthew 4:19 says, …Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. If you are not fishing for the souls of men, you are not following Christ. Soul winning is the key to following Christ. If you do not try to win souls every week, you are failing at following Christ.

The key to these four things is when Jesus said to this young man, One thing thou lackest. These four things that Christ requires are one action. Jesus did not say these four things thou lackest, but this one thing thou lackest. You cannot pick and choose from this list because every element in this list relies on the other three to be accomplished. If you truly want to please Christ, you must be willing to live by faith, live for others, die to self, and win souls. These four things are one action that will help you to find true joy in life.