It is certainly so with many people from different religions. They may be drawn to Jesus Christ but their family is going to make it very difficult for them. Maybe it makes them afraid. I cannot do this. I want to do this, but I cannot do this. I cannot face and accept the consequences. Ask the Lord to help you. This passage is all about barriers.
Sometimes people who come to Christ they say, ‘I cannot; it would cost me too much. It would cost me my sinful pleasures and I don't want to lose them. It would cost me my pride. It would cost me my self-determination. I cannot do that.’ What has happened? The barrier has got so high, they cannot see what is on the other side. It is so opaque. If you come to Christ you get far more than ever you lose, than ever you surrender. But these barriers blind us and we cannot see the cost of what we are doing. We cannot see what we are losing, the blessing of God and eternal life by holding on to these different barriers. Yes you lose many earthly benefits. If you can call them benefits, you certainly lose many earthly benefits. For example if you're in business you lose the liberty to lie in order to make money, to cheat, to stretch the truth and many a businessman has found this a barrier. ‘I couldn't function in my business if I had to be honest.’ That has been said to me on several occasions. You can call that an earthly benefit if you like.
If you are becoming converted or to become converted from another religion you may lose the benefit of the support of your family. Maybe they are wealthy. Maybe they would have put the deposit down for your mortgage. Maybe you would have had all sorts of benefits. Yes there may be benefits you lose by coming to Jesus Christ but you gain heavenly benefits. You gain new life. You are given an understanding by God about why things are as they are. You understand human nature. You understand the word of God. You get light flooding into your life. Your sins are forgiven. You are pardoned. You have a new purpose in life, a place in heaven. You have God blessing you and all the evidence of his power and his goodness to you. You give up the earthly benefit but you gain spiritual and heavenly benefits which are far greater.
You lose your independence, yes. You cannot now say, ‘Forget God. I am going to do just what I want to do. I'm going to do everything that suits me minute by minute, hour by hour, year by year.’ You cannot say that anymore. You do lose your self-determination and your independence. But what you gain is a King far higher than you. What you gain is God himself to be your ruler, your King and your guide and he will lead you through life's journey, and gone will be the terrible decisions if you seek his guidance. Gone will be all the disaster and the unhappiness because you are your own king. You now belong to the King of heaven.
The things you have to give up are comparatively few. You don't lose, normally speaking, the happiness of family life and your children. The benefits you lose are tainted and cheap and selfish and sinful anyway. But what you gain is a future full of pleasures with the Lord, righteous pleasures, pleasure which you can enjoy without guilt. You lose shallow benefits, little pleasures that last for a few years, for a season, and what you gain is rich and deep benefits, a whole new meaning to life. There's no comparison.
You have much more, even now in this life. To walk with God is just so wonderful. There was a news item about some people living in a very violent city in the USA and they were surrounded by reasonably beautiful surroundings. But these people in order to protect their goods had put up solid iron shutters over the windows. To protect their lifestyle they had to shut out everything outside. Do you have a barrier, a barricade, something that is an impediment that stops you coming to God? It shuts away from view all the blessings that would be yours if you came to him. What costly riches you possess! You have got some costly sin, something that's shutting you out, something that's stopping you coming to Jesus Christ. You would like to be forgive;, you would like to have life in the soul, but this thing means too much to you. The price you pay for that is eternal. The price you pay is the health and the salvation of your soul. Are these things too dear to us? Money, possessions, some pleasure, some sinful habit, some godless friend, some drink, some drug, independence to do whatever I like? These are the equivalent barriers for us to that of the rich young ruler: his love of possessions and wealth. How hard it is to enter into the kingdom of God. Yes, but God will do it for us. If we sincerely cry out to him, he will forgive us. He will throw down that barrier, that impediment. He will make us different people. He will grasp us in his arms and he will make us his children and he will be our God.