. One thing you lack. William Bacon
Stevens, the almost Christian. Jesus looked at him and loved
him. One thing you lack, he said.
Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. At this
the man's face fell, he went away sad, because he had great
wealth. Mark 10, 21 and 22. He who searched the heart knew
what the one thing lacking was, and hence put his probing finger
on the defect, and made the young man see himself in a truer light
than he had ever seen himself before. What was the result? At this, the man's face fell. What did he do? He went away
sad. Why? Because he had great wealth. The one thing which he lacked
was a willingness to give up his besetting sin. That besetting
sin was covetousness. He preferred to keep his possessions
rather than give them to the poor. He preferred the treasure
on earth to the treasure in heaven. He preferred ease to take up
a cross. He preferred the following of
his own will to following Jesus. This most instructive case shows
us how near, how very near, a person may be to the kingdom of heaven,
and yet fall short of it. They may lack but one thing,
the giving up of a besetting sin, the willingness to make
a personal sacrifice for Christ, the refusal to take up some cross,
the drawing back from a full following of Jesus. Some one
single sin, some one single difficulty may thus obstruct the soul's
entrance into heaven and prevent one from becoming an altogether
Christian. One sin deliberately persisted
in will certainly keep your soul out of heaven. One known duty
deliberately disregarded will surely secure your condemnation,
and a refusal to take up a cross and bear it after Jesus must
result in being only and almost Christian, and so fail of eternal
life.