Giving Up All Things
Jesus
told the young rich man who had kept the commandments, “Yet lackest thou one thing:
sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.”
We don’t know what happened to this young man—it is possible that even
thou he “was very sorrowful” that he eventually was able to sacrifice his
riches for the kingdom (Luke 18:22-23). We
do, though, have several examples in the scriptures of those who have given up
their worldly possessions for the gospel.
We don’t have a lot of details on what physical possessions Paul had before he was converted, but he told the Philippians this: “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8). He was clearly a man of great influence and power before his conversion, so his riches were likely substantial. He gave up both position and possessions—“all things”—in order to follow the Savior and preach the gospel for the rest of his life. Lehi in the Book of Mormon is another example. Nephi told us that when Lehi departed from Jerusalem to go into the wilderness, “He left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents” (1 Nephi 2:4). Lehi gave up all he had in order to follow a revelation of the Lord, and it took them nearly a decade of suffering through the wilderness and across the ocean until he reached the promised land. Amulek was another who made great sacrifices for the faith. He was “a man of no small reputation” with “many kindreds and friends” and one who had “acquired much riches” (Alma 10:4). I don’t think that he could have imagined that he would have to give it all up for the gospel when he first started preaching with Alma, but it didn’t take long before he found himself in prison and then kicked out of the city with all of his possessions gone. And it’s almost certain that he never went back and got them, for the city was destroyed by the Lamanites shortly after he left and “in one day it was left desolate” (Alma 16:10). And yet he did not turn back, and as far as we know he spent the rest of his life preaching the gospel, for we find him many years later preaching powerful sermons to the Zoramites. There are certainly others that we could point to, such as Job or modern day pioneer examples, who likewise literally gave up great possessions for the cause of Christ. We don’t know what will be required of us in the future, but I don’t think that we should be surprised if someday our devotion to the Lord made it so we needed to give up much of our own material possessions for the cause of the gospel. Would we too be “very sorrowful,” or would we rejoice to be “counted worthy” for such a sacrifice for Christ? (Acts 5:41)
We don’t have a lot of details on what physical possessions Paul had before he was converted, but he told the Philippians this: “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8). He was clearly a man of great influence and power before his conversion, so his riches were likely substantial. He gave up both position and possessions—“all things”—in order to follow the Savior and preach the gospel for the rest of his life. Lehi in the Book of Mormon is another example. Nephi told us that when Lehi departed from Jerusalem to go into the wilderness, “He left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents” (1 Nephi 2:4). Lehi gave up all he had in order to follow a revelation of the Lord, and it took them nearly a decade of suffering through the wilderness and across the ocean until he reached the promised land. Amulek was another who made great sacrifices for the faith. He was “a man of no small reputation” with “many kindreds and friends” and one who had “acquired much riches” (Alma 10:4). I don’t think that he could have imagined that he would have to give it all up for the gospel when he first started preaching with Alma, but it didn’t take long before he found himself in prison and then kicked out of the city with all of his possessions gone. And it’s almost certain that he never went back and got them, for the city was destroyed by the Lamanites shortly after he left and “in one day it was left desolate” (Alma 16:10). And yet he did not turn back, and as far as we know he spent the rest of his life preaching the gospel, for we find him many years later preaching powerful sermons to the Zoramites. There are certainly others that we could point to, such as Job or modern day pioneer examples, who likewise literally gave up great possessions for the cause of Christ. We don’t know what will be required of us in the future, but I don’t think that we should be surprised if someday our devotion to the Lord made it so we needed to give up much of our own material possessions for the cause of the gospel. Would we too be “very sorrowful,” or would we rejoice to be “counted worthy” for such a sacrifice for Christ? (Acts 5:41)
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