Matthew 19:16-22 NKJV Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Obviously, the young man understands work. He worked hard to obtain material possessions and he worked at living a relatively righteous life. Now, Jesus is instructing him to remove himself from the equation and everything he worked for and follow Him, but he couldn’t.

Some people can’t develop an intimate relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, because of those same two reasons. They may have gained a lot of material possessions and they enjoy the lifestyle that comes with it, but they aren’t willing to give that up for God. Most of the time, God isn’t asking them to give everything away, but the thought of giving it away and changing their lifestyle limits the depths they can go with God.

In other situations, people can’t go deeper with God because of self-righteousness. They pride themselves on their works and their self-effort until they can’t truly appreciate what Jesus has accomplished for them. 

In both cases, it comes back to trust. The person dominated by material possessions trust more in them, than what God could provide. The other person trust more in their righteousness over what Jesus has accomplished to make them righteous.

Let’s not go down this road. Let’s trust God with our possessions, our lifestyle, and our righteousness.