Jesus says in John 16:13: Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And we are all familiar with the quote: How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! Mk 12:25.
Why does Jesus speak often about letting go and giving up? Can we not enjoy the material possession life gives us? Or is he speaking of something else, some deeper, something more fundamental?
I think Jesus is trying to teach us a different attitude toward life. I think this attitude is not just toward material possessions, but more importantly, toward doing good deeds.
Face it. We all get a lot a great deal of human satisfaction from the good deeds that we do. But doing good deeds for good feelings can end disastrously. How? Because, as someone has said, no good deed goes unpunished. What will keep us going when our good deeds are misjudged, unappreciated, even condemned? How will we continue doing good? Will we not drop it all and wonder, why did I bother?
Jesus knows we love doing actions for rewards, so he invites us to follow him for a deeper reason: simply because it is the right thing to do. Joy will follow. But if joy is our goal, we will fall flat on our face.
That's the catch. When we choose to follow Jesus, and our choice is not rewarded with that deep sense of fulfillment, we must go inside of our souls reflect on our intentions. Are we doing this for personal satisfaction? Or are we doing the right thing because it is right? Only when we discern this, can we experience a true freedom. And after all, isn't that what following Jesus should be about?
