What is Enough?

~~~ Sirach 35:1-12 ~~~ Psalm 50 ~~ Mark 10:28-31 ~~~

 

Peter began to say to Jesus,
‘We have given up everything and followed you.”

 

For most of us this is a difficult verse to reflect upon.

We gloss over it quickly because we are picky about what we are willing to give up.

 

The idea of giving up everything is overwhelming and scary.

 

Peter and the others did give up pretty much everything.

They left their fishing business.

They left their homes.

They left their families.

 

They followed Jesus and he was always on the move.

Jesus never really set down roots in one place.

He was a missionary and they joined him.

 

How do you know how much is enough to give up?

Is it really something to be measured?

Is it possible to measure how much someone is giving up?

 

Everything for one may not be much for another.

 

Some believe giving from their wealth is sufficient;

but I wonder if that is truly giving anything up.

 

Some give up all of their material belongings to enter religious life;

but I wonder if that is truly necessary.

 

Where is the happy medium?

Where is the middle?

 

It may have been necessary for Peter and the others to give up everything 

to follow Jesus,

they had a great task before them.

 

 

So where does that leave us today?

I think what you give up can only be determined

by the person making the sacrifice.

 

If what you give up is imposed upon you then your attitude

 may deteriorate into something

far less then Jesus intended.

 

If you do not have the right spirit of the heart in what you sacrifice,

is it a sacrifice at all?

 

Was Peter just whining?

Did he just want to make Jesus aware of the sacrifice they had made?

 

Jesus says whatever you give up you

will get a hundred times more in return...

...and eternal life in the age to come...

 

Honestly it makes me a little uncomfortable to reflect on exactly

what I am 'giving up' to follow Jesus.

 

I may never be able to truthfully determine if it is enough.

I may never be able to admit just how selfish I really am.

 

All I can do is make the decision daily to follow Jesus accepting

what that decision encompasses.

I place my trust in where he leads me.

I pray to have the strength needed to sacrifice what is asked of me.

Perhaps I should consider adding a day of fasting each week to my prayer life.

Giving up food for a day pales in comparison

to what some have given up.

 

'...Appear not before the LORD empty-handed...'