But a close look at the account in the scriptures reveal that Jesus actually invited a 13th disciple who got vexed, depressed, overwhelmed etc with the conditions for discipleship and in the words of the scriptures:
'... looked sad and went away sorrowful ...'. (Mark 10:22)
This situation brings to our mind the fundamental importance of purpose in life. (click read more to continue)
Purpose is: a resolution, determination, intention or something one is set out to attain in life. Our character (Jesus' 13th disciple) in Mark 10 had obeyed all the commandments and his heart yearned for more in the pursuit of excellence and service to God. In the pursuit of this deeper quest he encountered Jesus Christ who gave him the simple remedy to the yearning of his heart. The remedy was that he should go and:
- maintain the statuesque (his present spiritual perception and altitude);
- sell everything that he has and
- come and follow me (Jesus Christ)
Amazingly he backed out on this demand not because he was rich, educated, influential etc but because he did not understand the purpose for his existence - which was actually to fear God and live for him. With this ignorance of purpose came the lack of understanding of the fact that God is capable of giving him back all that He was asked to give to the poor. Remember also the scriptures: 'When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the Lord, and the Lord will pay you back' (Proverbs 19:17) and ultimately the natural law of sowing and reaping will always run its course: '.. what a man sows, he will reap..' (Gal. 6:7).
If he had understood this, he would have willingly given out what he had knowing that the person asking for it (God), will give it back to him (Mark 10:29 - 30); and maybe we would have been celebrating the thirteen disciples of Christ and not twelve. Read Mark 10:17 - 31 for the details of this 13th disciple.
The lessons for us here is:
Except we understand the purpose of our existence, there are certain things that we will keep struggling with. The struggle is not because doing these things are difficult but because we need a paradigm shift (from where we are presently) in order to understand we need to do them. Also there are some mistakes we eventually make in life not because we are not on the right path but because our purpose is not defined (remember that when purpose is not known or defined, abuse is inevitable).
Ask yourself: 'what have I lost because my purpose in life was not defined?' If you sincerely answer that, I want to announce to you that Jesus Christ is very willing to give you a second chance to make it up for your loses. That is if you will be willing to allow His spirit guide you through it. Do not miss this opportunity of leaving a legacy that posterity with identify with.
That 13th disciple could be you!
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