This weekend’s Gospel reading is about a man who came to Jesus wanting to know what he had to do to inherit eternal life. He was encouraged by Jesus to sell everything he had, give the money to the poor, and follow Him. The man went away sad because he had great wealth. The issue for the man was the difficulty in letting go and letting God. This man was given a direct word from the Lord as to what he should do, but he had a hard time trusting that the Lord Jesus would be his Good Shepherd who would lead him along blessed paths. 

Perhaps the thought of selling everything and giving the money to the poor would not be appealing to any of us either. Couldn’t we just give a percentage like Zacchaeus who gave half of what he had to the poor (Luke 19:8)? After all, we would still have something to fall back on if necessary. But when it comes down to it, the issue is not the money as much as the attitude which should say, “Your will be done. If this is what You are clearly calling me to do, empower me to do it.” 

While the Lord doesn’t call most of us to sell everything we have and give the money to support ministries which take care of the marginalized in society, He does call us to trust Him to lead us and guide us to be the best stewards of that with which He has entrusted us. Sometimes that involves what happens with our earthly wealth after we have gone home to heaven. One of our dear sisters in the faith, Claire Dotson, who went home to heaven last year, was led by our Lord to make sure that some of what she had been entrusted with would continue to be used to accomplish the Lord’s work. As a result, she left a good portion of her estate to Beautiful Savior! Needless to say, when I found out about this from her son Glenn, I was in shock, but also filled with thanksgiving to our Lord who works among His people to accomplish His work.  

This doesn’t always happen through monetary donations, but it does begin with the heartfelt prayer,  “Lord, grant me wisdom to hear Your Word and understand Your will for me in this situation, as well as the strength to do it.”