UCKG GUYANA

1. Your Way or His Way?

Actions speak louder than words! God does not take into consideration what we say, but rather what we do. Let's take for example the story of the rich young ruler and Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector. The rich young ruler came to Jesus and asked, "...Good Teacher, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life?" (Matthew 19:16). In reply to this, Jesus told him, "...go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)
As we can see from Jesus' reply to the young man, all He asked was for ACTION. 'Go', 'sell', 'give', 'come' and 'follow me'. These same actions are being asked of youths today. 'Go' and 'sell' what you have. Get rid of the things that are impeding you from forming a stronger relationship with God.
"Like the young rich ruler, many youths know what they have to do in order to get closer to God. The problem is that they want to do it their way."

Give up the treasures of your heart; anything that comes before God like friends, music, family, reputation, fame, recognition, etc. Things that you might even say are not first in your heart but your actions and behavior show otherwise.
The other actions Jesus pointed out were to 'Come' and 'Follow Me'. To get rid of our worldly treasures is the first step in having eternal life. The second step is to put Jesus Christ as your Leader and to live according to His will. The sad conclusion to the story of the rich young ruler is that he was unable to drop all his possessions in order to live according to God's will. "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." (Matthew 19:22)
Zacchaeus was also faced with a similar situation. As you probably heard before, he was the man who climbed up the tree to see Jesus, (Luke 19:1-6). Like the young ruler, "...Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, and he was very rich." (Luke 19:2). However, unlike the rich young ruler, he was not asked to give up his possessions by the Lord Jesus; he did this voluntarily. "Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Look Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold" (Luke 19:8).
Like Zacchaeus, most youths know what they have to do in order to get closer to God. So what is stopping them?
The main conclusion that can be drawn from this message is that Gog requires us to act upon what He reveals to us. Who do your actions take after, the rich young ruler or Zacchaeus?