Moving isn't fun

Any time I move, I remember how much I don't enjoy it. So many things to box up and get ready. Books. Furniture. Clothes. Etc...
How much easier would it be to move if I could just leave everything here and leave? I think I would enjoy moving a lot more if I didn't have to worry about all the stuff in my house.
Maybe that's why we have such a hard time moving towards heaven. Maybe we are too attached to our stuff. Popularity. Success. Possessions. The pleasures of this earth. What is it that you feel like to you need to pack and take with you on your journey towards God? Jesus met a man who wanted to bring some things with him as well.
As he was starting out on a trip, a man came running up to Jesus, knelt down, and asked, "Good Teacher, what should I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked. "Only God is truly good. But as for your question, you know the commandments: `Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely. Do not cheat. Honor your father and mother.'"
"Teacher," the man replied, "I've obeyed all these commandments since I was a child."
Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. "You lack only one thing," he told him. "Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this, the man's face fell, and he went sadly away because he had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for rich people to get into the Kingdom of God!" This amazed them. But Jesus said again, "Dear children, it is very hard to get into the Kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!"
The disciples were astounded. "Then who in the world can be saved?" they asked.
Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God."
Then Peter began to mention all that he and the other disciples had left behind. "We've given up everything to follow you," he said.
And Jesus replied, "I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return, a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property--with persecutions. And in the world to come they will have eternal life. But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then." (Mark 10:17-31)
How many of us are like this young man?
Is the following the discussion we would have with Jesus?
Us: Jesus, what must I do to go to heaven?
Jesus: Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself.
Us: Jesus, I have done that.
Jesus: OK. One more thing. Sell your house and car, then give all the money to those in New Orleans.
Now, I don't think Jesus was telling the young man (or us) that we must sell everything and give it away to get to heaven. But His point was that we must have an attitude that we are willing to sacrifice to help others. The young man wanted to have heaven without giving up the world. He allowed his possesions to be his god, the place he put his trust. How many of us serve similar gods?
The question is not whether or not you own your possesions. The questions is whether or not your possesions own you.
Jesus got to the heart of the matter at the end of the above passage when He said, "But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then."
I don't know about you, but I struggle with pride. Most of us want to be important. We desire to be noticed and recognized. And the world teaches us that what we have defines who we are. But the lesson that God continues to teach me is that when we are willing to stop packing our life full of the world we will experience true success and move closer to Jesus.