His All

“And (Jesus) went out from thence and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him....And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them.”

The first question that usually gets asked when reading this verse is “why.” If Jesus is truly God, why would He not be able to perform miracles, “mighty works”, here? Part of the answer is that He was in fact more than able but there is more to be considered.

There is a story of a young child who was once given a toy train. Immediately it became the most valuable thing in his possession and he would take it everywhere with him, to the point where he would not even leave it out of his sight for a moment.

One day, he accidentally broke it. Hearing his son’s distress, the boy’s father came in to see him in tears with the toy in pieces on the floor. Through sobbing breaths, it was obvious that he felt all was lost. However, the father calmly reassured his son that was not the case...that it could be fixed.

“Really?” he asked.

“Of course,” said his father, “I will take it to my shop and fix it as good as new.”

Both overwhelmed and relieved at hearing this, the boy hurriedly picked up all of the pieces. But suddenly when it came to handing them over, knowing that it would be out of his sight and possession for a while, he found that he could not let go.

“Son,” his father gently told him, “I can fix this for you but only if you let go of it and trust me.”

A wealthy young man once approached Jesus and asked what he must do to enter heaven. Jesus then asked him if he kept all of God’s commandments. “Yes,” he replied, “since I was a youth.”

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.

Though the above examples are different in some ways and there is far more to be said about each, one core truth is that God never forces us to believe in Him. Rather He simply by grace invites us to accept His gift of faith, to which all else is tied.

Human nature is such that we often demand nothing less than physical proof first, and/or need to feel that we ourselves are in control. True faith entails the direct opposite. Via His grace, when we surrender all to Him in trust and faith, all things are possible. Each of us has something within ourselves that we fear to let go of. Whatever that may be for each of us, ultimately it all comes down to the will...that which is both hardest and easiest to give over to Him.

Jesus Himself surrendered everything, including His will and His very life, to be our Savior. He now offers us all by believing in Him.