The Rich Young Ruler

The English language is laden with Christian imagery and terms, and it hit me a couple weeks ago that the act of "giving up" can be viewed through the same Christian mindset.

You see it in books, movies, and on television:  an exasperated character throws his hands in the air and proclaims, "I give up!"

Giving up with one's hands raised ... it's almost like an offering to the Lord, a sweet sacrifice of whatever you're gripping onto.
To the world, this seems really stupid.  Giving up reeks of weakness, of brokenness, of the abominable mindset of "I can't do this."  How could you possibly admit that?  Why would you surrender like that?

Maybe because you simply can't do everything after all.

Not by yourself anyway.  After all, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13).  So He'll even strengthen you to give up. Give it up to Him.

Give up your fears. Give up your worries.  Give up your past.  Give up your friendships and your family. Give up your dignity, your pride, your money, your grades, your future, your everything.   Give up your life.

It's like the rich young ruler:
"And a ruler asked him, 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: "Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother."' And he said, 'All these I have kept from my youth.' When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me'"(Luke 18:18-22)

Jesus asked him to do the one thing he could not do.  To give up what he had been clutching onto for years.

"But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich." (v.23)

You can just imagine him ashamedly walking away, head down, unable to do this one last thing.  I used to read this passage with a sort of contempt for the ruler.  He had done everything else, and now he couldn't do this one simple thing?  Not only could he have had the opportunity to be Jesus' disciple, but Jesus also promised him treasure in Heaven!
So then Jesus declares that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God" (v. 24). 

I would think, "Just don't get rich, fool!"
But now I realize that we all have our own kind of "richness" that God is asking us to give up.  Our blessings, our decadent lifestyle, our relationships, our time, our desires, our happiness... 

So what's the one thing you cannot do?  What is it that God is asking you to give up to Him?