08. Loved Enough to Be Told the Truth
What If Jesus Is Different Than You Think? – Series
What if the thing you are most afraid to lose is keeping you from the life you are looking for?
You may already know what it is.
A relationship you keep defending. Money that makes you feel secure. Approval you cannot bear to lose. The right to remain in control.
You want peace. You want a meaningful life. Perhaps you even want to know God.
But what if following Jesus touches the one thing you have decided He cannot have?
In Mark 10:17–27, a man ran to Jesus, knelt before Him, and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life.
He appeared sincere. He asked an important question. When Jesus named several commandments, the man said he had kept them since he was young.
Then Mark tells us something worth slowing down to notice:
Jesus looked at him and loved him.
Before the challenge came, there was love.
Jesus told him to sell what he owned, give to the poor, and come follow Him.
The man’s face fell.
He went away sad because he had great wealth.
He had come asking about eternal life. Now he was walking away from the One who had invited him to follow.
He wanted an answer. But the answer asked more of him than he was willing to give.
Could that happen to you?
You can ask honest questions about Jesus while quietly setting limits on the answers you will accept.
You can admire His teaching until it challenges your choices.
You can want His forgiveness while resisting His authority.
The rich man’s wealth was real. So was his attachment to it. When Jesus invited him to follow, he discovered how difficult it was to let go.
What would be hardest for you?
Perhaps your security rests on having enough money that you never need to depend on anyone.
Perhaps you are afraid that following Jesus would cost you someone’s approval.
Perhaps there is a habit you have begun arranging your life around.
Or perhaps you simply want the final say.
Ask yourself honestly: What place does this have in my life? What am I willing to sacrifice to keep it?
Something can have a powerful hold on you long before you are willing to call it your master.
Jesus loved this man enough to bring the struggle into the open.
He did not humiliate him. He offered him a way forward: come, follow Me.
But the man walked away grieving.
Imagine being loved by Jesus, invited by Jesus—and still choosing to leave.
The passage does not tell us what happened to him afterward. It leaves us facing the weight of his decision.
Then Jesus told His disciples how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.
They were astonished. Who, then, could be saved?
Jesus answered that what is impossible with people is possible with God.
There is hope in that answer for anyone who feels unable to change.
You can admit the strength of what holds you. You can ask God for help you cannot manufacture yourself.
Read Mark 10:17–27 slowly.
Name the thing you would find hardest to surrender. Then pray honestly:
“Jesus, I am afraid to let this go. Help me see what place it has in my life. Help me trust Your love enough to follow You.”
The man came to Jesus with a question.
He left with a choice.
When Jesus tells you the truth about what holds you, what will you do next?
Want to go further?
All ten Zúme discipleship lessons are on my site—free, with the video and the same teaching notes I use when I train leaders in person. Take them on your own, take them with a few friends, or join me live on Zoom and I will teach them to you face to face. When you finish, tell me and I will coach you personally.
Start the ten lessons:
https://internationalafricanmobilization.com/training/terrys-zume-teaching-series/
Join a live training – https://zume.training/join-a-training
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There are many we coach that could use encouragement in small ways to accomplish great things.
Terry Ruff
DMM Catalyst & Zúme Trainer | Missionary at Northside Christian Church
Share this with someone who is considering what it means to follow Jesus.