1. You have to decide to sell out for this life with Him. It is like a marriage. You must be faithful. It is a choice. He gives us free will and He wants us to  love him just like He loves us… Freely. With that being said, even though He gives us free will to follow and Love Him we must remember that this is a commandment. The Bible says it is the greatest commandment as a matter of fact.

     A. Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

              a. So, as you can see from this scripture, Loving Him is not only a way of life it is a commandment. Also, I have learned though the leading of the Holy Ghost that when you fulfill the first commandment of loving the Lord Thy God with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength fulfilling the second verse is easy, because it’s not your love that is flowing it is the overflow of His.

     B. Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

              a. In context this scripture is the end of a conversation between Jesus and a man that came to him while he was on the coast of Judea beyond Jordan after he left Galilee. This young man was asking Jesus what He must do to be saved. Jesus told him in vs. 18-20 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? When Jesus told this young man to sell all that he had and follow him the young man went away sad because he had much possessions. Jesus wants us to love him more than the stuff He has blessed us with. He wants us to love him freely and unconditionally just like he loves us. He gave up his very life to ensure we had an avenue of escape from sin. He paid the price for our sins. He longs for us to love him so much so that we will die out to our sinful, flesh and live for him & walk with him. Salvation is not something we can earn but relationship with him is something that he has lovingly opened a door for us to be able to build with him. We must run after Him with our whole heart.

     C. Nothing is more important than the call He has on our lives and the call he has placed in us to love and serve Him. When Elijah was passing by the field and called Elisha to follow Him in the journey, he was on for our Lord in

               a. 1 Kings 19:13-21. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.   And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:   And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.   And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.   Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.   So, he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.   And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, go back again: for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him. 

               b. Here we see God speaking with Elijah in a still small voice. He is instructing Him on what He wants him to do. He tells him go and anoint certain ones King and then he instructs him about Elisha and says anoint him to be prophet in thy room. God was telling him to anoint Elisha to be a prophet unto himself. He was instructing Elijah to teach Elisha the calling of a prophet to be able to walk in Elijah’s footsteps when he is called him to be with the Lord. We see here that when Elijah found Elisha he was working in the fields. When Elijah throws his mantel upon Elisha and tells him come follow me, Elisha asks to be able to kiss his parents goodbye and then he will follow Him. Elijah says go back again: for what have I done to thee? This was Elijah saying make a choice, I have not anointed you or taught you anything yet. The choice is yours. In this moment I can draw from the scriptures the reaction to this statement in Elisha for he went back from Elijah and killed his 12 oxen, cooked them and gave the meat away to the people. Not only did he give up his family, but he also burned his oxen and all their equipment which was his way of making a living and then ran after Elijah. He sold out everything to follow the call of God on his life spoken to him by Elijah. This is what we must do as well. In this one act of obedience Elisha ended up receiving a double portion of the anointing that was on Elijah’s life. He gave everything and God gave him double. We have to learn to do the same. When I chose to walk with the Lord, I gave up any and everything that was standing between me and Him. I was put in a process of sanctification and I willingly followed. At times I found challenges but, in this process, I learned to trust and follow Him. Walking by faith and not by sight. I learned through these years in this relationship with him that he is very faithful and nothing I have chosen to give up while following Him was counted a loss in my book.

In closing I can tell you from personal experience that nothing and no one can ever take the place of my relationship with our Lord Jesus. He is truly my all and all. As My husband said on Thursday night in Bible study… If it were not for God’s love flowing thru us, we would not be able to love each other truly and completely. He is so faithful to us and all he wants is our love and dedication to a true open, unconditional relationship with Him. So, I ask you today, lay aside every weight that does so easily beset you and allow God to have your all. Allow Him to be your all. Sell out for Jesus and allow Him to become your main focus and you will see the rest of your lifeline up in a way you have never seen it do before. He said in Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. He also said in Matthew 16:26 for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The Bible states this again in Mark 8:36. So I ask you that same question. What can we gain or profit if we have the whole world but end up in hell because we have no relationship with Jesus? Nothing. Nothing on this earth is worth losing the relationship with Jesus. So, I say, sell out. Sell all you have and give all for Him. Make Him your everything. You will not be sorry for it. I promise you that.