What Lack I Yet?

When Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” that was not the first time recorded in scripture that such a commandment was given.  In Genesis 17, Abram is commanded to be perfect.  In Deuteronomy 18:13, the Israelites are told, “Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.”  After Solomon gave the dedicatory prayer for the temple, he blessed his people, saying, “Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.” (1 Kings 8:61) 

When the king of the Kingdom of Judah sought the aid of Syria to fight the Kingdom of Israel, he was told that, because he foolishly sought help from someone other than the Lord, he would be at war for the rest of his life.  The prophet told King Asa, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” 

We all know the clichés used to excuse our imperfections.  No one is perfect.  I’m only human.  Despite those declarations on an almost unanimous scale, perfection is possible, even in this life, as it is defined by the Lord.  Noah and Job are both described in the Old Testament as being perfect.  Yet Paul tells us in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  So being perfect does not mean to never sin.   Rather it means to be with the Lord, to depend on him, to turn to him for guidance and support, to have our desires focused on him, to accept his will as our own, to live according to his laws, and to recognize when we fall short and make immediate correction through repentance. 

When a rich, young man asked Jesus what he should do to get eternal life, Jesus told him to obey the commandments.  He said he was already doing that.  Then he asked the big question, “What lack I yet?”  Jesus’ answer to him was, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor,” and then he was instructed to, “Come and follow me.”  He was a righteous, young man who was obeying the laws of God, but he was so attached to his material possessions that he could not give them up.  Apparently he desired those riches.  They stood between him and perfection. 

We each need to ask the question, “What lack I yet?”  Is there something that stands between us and complete devotion to the Lord?  Is there something we rely on when we should be relying on him?  Do we have desires or attachments in our lives that prevent us from having that spiritually-minded focus at all times?  We may not be ready for the answer.  We may turn away from the answer in sorrow, as that young man did, but if we are ready to take another step in our spiritual progression, we may find the courage and the strength to take the next step toward perfection. 

This journey is my next step, and though I am attempting to turn my desires away from food by turning them to the Lord with perfect reliance on him, I find that sometimes I am sad, just like that young man.  Turning my heart from something I am comfortable with is not easy, even when I am turning it to something that is far better.  Change is always hard, and change on this scale is painful.  It feels unnatural sometimes and definitely unfair.  At times it feels too difficult and even impossible, but when the load gets too heavy to bear and I feel ready to give up, I remind myself that Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”