Ever wore a mustard green? Many parts are wearable.

“There is no way this is going to work,” warned my wife. “Yes it will, I’m confident,” I… pleaded.

I love greens. Mustards, turnips, or a bag full of maple leafs… as long as their soaked in ham hocks and “world secret” seasonings. Unfortunately, my wife does not. As a matter of fact, she describes them with adjectives not appropriate for our “G” rated site.

So how does a man who loves greens convince a woman who hates greens to cook them for him? Well, of course, make it easy. And everyone knows the difficulty in cooking fresh greens… cleaning them.

My solution? The washing machine. Ingenious! This machine of modern technology is the answer to the division of our household. Simply throw the greens into the washing machine, and presto,… clean greens.

And now, a word of warning… don’t do it. Instead of eating greens for supper, we wore them for months. The spin cycle made the greens magically disappear. Well, they didn’t really disappear… they shredded into tiny particles that found their way into the drain holes, and then attached themselves to our clothing for many washes afterwards.

I had great expectations. But my expectations were much different from the reality I experienced.

The same can be said for many who approached Jesus with their personal expectations. Consider a very wealthy young ruler. (Luke 18:18-23)

He was quite sure he was a lock. What leader wouldn’t be glad to add this man’s resume to his stable? Plenty of resources… and a good man to boot. But he overlooked one important issue in his life. And Jesus did not. Jesus confronts the critical issue by telling him, “sell everything you have… then give the proceeds to the poor.”

We are told this man leaves the Lord’s presence in sadness. Why? He wasn’t willing to forsake the god of his life. He was excited by the opportunity of adding Jesus to his life… he was unwilling to give Him his life.

“The Demands of the authentic Jesus are personal and costly.” D. A. Carson