If you really believe in God will you do this to prove it?

Question

Give away all your posessions, take a a vow of poverty and leave your family.

Matthew
19:23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

19:24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Answer 1

You actually didn't even include Matthew 19:21, which makes it pretty clear:

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

I love how all the Christians who are responding are trying to pretend that these lines don't actually mean what they say, and that they are a parable or have a secret meaning. What they should really say is "that's hard, and I don't want to do it", proving once and for all that their faith is phony.

Answer 2

The bible also says and the man shall leave his parents home and take a wife and the two will become one. Many rich men are greedy and think about making more money. I feel that if a rich person uses their money to help humanity ( like Oprah) that she will enter the kingdom of heaven. There is the old testament and the new testament. I really don't think Jesus would want a father to leave his wife and children.
I would help others if I were rich but I wouldn't leave my husband nor child.When I die and if I make it to heaven, then it would be my time to serve the Lord 24/7.

Answer 3

The scriptures you're referring to are teaching a lesson about attachments to things that could cause separation from God.

Mtt: 19 was a story of a rich who told Jesus that he had done everything required to follow Jesus and wanted to know if he would be saved. Jesus told him to give away all his possessions and follow him, but the rich man couldn't do it.

The lesson is that the rich man was so attached to his earthly wealth that he could not give it up even for eternal life. It is teaching us that we must not allow anything - money, cars, clothes, ideas - to get between us and God. If anthing does, we must get rid of it.

If you have money, you are not required to give it up and be poor. Money is just money. However, if you become so obsessed with it that you will do anything for it or anything to keep it, then you have a problem.

Jesus was saying that is would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle because the rich man was so attached to his wealth that he could not let go of it, even for heaven.

Mtt: 19:29 Jesus is saying that whoever gives up everything for Him shall be given everything, everything being eternal life. If it means giving up your house, or your family, your land or money or whatever to get to heaven, then you should do it, because all of those things are just temporary, but heaven is eternal.

Answer 4

I believe what Jesus is saying is this " Dont make money your reason for living.......big houses, cars, yachts, diamonds........all nice things but dont let them represent who you are......Instead let it be God that you show to others besides in the end riches wont do you any good.....I mean lets face it you cant take it with you......you came into this world with nothing and you will leave the same way.

I may not have alot of money but Jesus, my family and friends are my treasure here on earth and when I do get to heaven I will find more treasure and reward than I could ever find here on the earth.

also think about this.......you see all these movie stars, rock stars alike who despite all their money arent happy.......they try to make themselves happy with the expensive things they buy or by going and drinking or doing drugs but where is there happiness.........they put it in material things of this earth and the one true source of happiness still awaits them and wants them to seek Him first......Jesus is the true source of happiness not money and until people figure that out they will never be truely at peace or truely happy.

To answer your question.......If God told me to solely follow him and give up everything including family.........why because He is my reason for living and For Him alone would I do it.

I would not however do it to prove to you there is a God.......as ive said many times before just because you may not believe in God doesnt mean he doesnt exsist.........you might not believe but that wont change that God is, was and will be forever Lord and Savior and that one day all will bow and every tongue confess He is Lord.

Answer 5

Jesus said those things because of a rich young man who asked Jesus what more must he do to inherit the kingdom of God- after all, he had fulfilled everything that was required of him by the law since he was a child. Jesus told the rich young man to sell all he had...not because poverty is holy, but his riches were holding a higher place in his heart than the Lord- if he wanted to inherit salvation, he would have to let go of what was holding him back from it...and he couldn't.

God wants to bless His people, but if what He blesses them with takes a higher place in their heart than Him, they may be required to give up what holds them back if they want to go on with God. It's for their good. And who's to say that the Lord might not restore what He's required once a person's priorities are straight.

There is no place in the bible that requires any believer to take a vow of poverty. However, God's call may take you into difficult places and you may lack greatly. Would you go?

The last verse has to do with the calling of God on a believer's life. What would you be willing to give up in order to go where the Father said "go"? Family? Job? The town you grew up in?

The Lord called me to move to a different part of the United States several years ago for ministry reasons. I felt like He told me, before I left California, that my ex-husband would cause trouble where my son was concerned. He did, and I lost my son to him. It was more painful than you know, as my son was the center of my life. I could have left and went back to where my son was, but the Lord had called me here...what would I do? I chose to forsake my right to move back to California to be with my son. It took a long time to heal, but here I am. For the sake of the call of the Lord, I gave up my son. The Lord will bless my life with His presence and anoint me to do His will, and wherever He takes me, I will follow.

So, yes. Whatever it takes to do the will of God, I will pay the price for the joy of the upward calling.

No, I would never do something rash to prove you or anyone else right or wrong regarding God.

Answer 6

They are parables and you need to understand them before making a rash judgement.

19:13 You can't take it with you
19:24 Riches cannot come before God
19:29 Receive Jesus before your body dies.

More or less I put it down so you could understand.
Interpretations are so imporant.

Example : Freedom of Speech
Think about it.

Answer 7

Another person trying to show how little he knows by picking and choosing verses without taking the whole passage and carefully considering the context.

So, look at the whole thing:
Mat 19:20-28
(20) The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
(21) Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come [and] follow me.
(22) But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
(23) Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(24) And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
(25) When his disciples heard [it], they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
(26) But Jesus beheld [them], and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
(27) Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
(28) And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now lets look at a few more verses that help explain these.
(1Ti 6:10) For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

If you desire money more than God, then you will not go to heaven. Does God hate the rich? No.

The same principle also applies to to the houses and family; if you love anything more than you love God, you will not be able to enter into heaven.
(Deu 10:12) And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

Answer 8

taken out of context again just like any other Atheist I have seen on here. Obviously you do not want to know the truth. so don't. Me nor any other Christian on here will force our beliefs on you but that certainly does not mean we cannot share what we have found, which is the same thing as you telling someone about a great restaurant.
At the same time, we would welcome you with open arms if you could only see the truth of Gods word and promise to those that believe by faith.
GOD BLESS

Answer 9

I believe in God and He is my everything. I fall short of Him more than I'd like to but that's the beauty of my relationship with Him. He forgives. You know what else: He provides. He provides me with shelter, food, clothing so if He calls me to live differently then I would. I don't have to prove to Him of my faith. He already knows everything about me, the good and the bad. Plus, I wouldn't want to give up my stuff to prove something, I would do it to give more glory to Him.
He created the heavens and the earth and is amazing beyond words. My life here is temporary and if He deems it that I should live in poverty then I would grow in Him and accept it. I would do it knowing that I'd be one more day closer to heaven and spending eternity with my Father.
Everything else compared to knowing Jesus is rubbish, as Paul says in Philippians chapter 3.
Faith is all I need, not things of this world.

Answer 10

Christians don't believe what Jesus said anymore, because we have entered the age of the lukewarm apostate church spoken about in the Bible. They will find any way they can to rationalize away the words of Jesus. Expect to be persecuted if you proclaim what Jesus said beccause the Bible says, in the last days men will not endure sound doctrine.