Jesus wants it all.
He wants everything.
Everything important to us.
Everything we care about.
All of our sin and shame.
All of our weaknesses and despair.
Jesus wants all the good and all the bad we have to give.
He will take it and remake us and mold us into His image.
But now, O Lord, Thou art our father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter;
and we all are the work of Thy hand. Isaiah 64:8
We are made in the image of God.
Each person whether big or small, rich or poor, intelligent or not,
Each one has the capacity to give their lives over to God.
if they cling to their earthly riches, including the riches within themselves,
their beauty, their personality, their friends, their idols or any other things this world has to offer,
they will not be accepted by Jesus on the last day.
Their riches will lose value, their idols, broken in a million pieces,
their foundations ruined and all that they hoped in or trusted in will be destroyed,
and they will be standing or kneeling before the God of all Creation,
trying to explain how they trusted in other things and not in Him.
The apples of delight that they have eaten and desired will cause them to starve.
Their flesh has been fed, but not their spirit.
The love that they think has been solid will evaporate.
Those things they trusted in will evade them.
Pray and fast for those you love to hear and see.
Plead with the Lord that He will give them one more chance.
If they do not see and hear, that is not because the opportunity was not there for them.
They let it slide. They chose another option. God always looks on the heart. He knows who is seeking Him.
Look at this king. The scripture here tells us why he fell, why he couldn’t make it.
It was his own fault. Read this carefully. Consider your own self.
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. 2 Chronicles 12:14
Is this a formula?
Not exactly. However, there are things we do that honor the Lord.
This is more like an unofficial commandment, something you should do that is not so obvious.
It lines up with circumcising your heart, taking up your cross and following Jesus,
rending your heart and not your garment, following hard after the Lord.
Many scriptures reflect this same attribution.
Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God;
arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 12:19
This is what God required of the temple that was built for Him.
Look at each portion and what He expected.
Here, we are reminded that we each are now His temple.
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said,
I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 2 Corinthians 6:16
As we follow Jesus, we make choices along the way.
Choose life. Choose Jesus and Choose His ways above your own.
You will not be disappointed in the long run, however, it may be painful to the flesh for the time-being.
Hand it all over to Jesus and do not look back. Remember Lot’s wife. Luke 17:32