What is the meaning of leaving everything? It means that all the things that are necessary in life do not have any ground in us. Rather, the ground in us has been given to Christ. How should we deal with our children, our family, and our career? The Lord within us will show us. No one can tell others how to deal with these matters. Our lives, statuses, and situations may be different, but our hearts should be absolutely the same. The ground in us should be given to Christ.
It is actually relatively easy to abandon all the things in our lives and to not live by them. It is much more difficult to live by those things and yet not give them the ground. It is like living in a family but not giving the family the ground in us. How difficult this is! Some religions persuade people to abandon their families and even to abandon everything, because they believe that everything is vanity and that people no longer need anything. The Lord, however, does not want us to live such a life. Instead, He wants us to have a family but to not give the ground in us to our family. All the ground has to be given to Christ. At the same time, we must act according to the will of Christ to properly bear the responsibilities of the family.
A co-worker once said that our heart is like a Chinese medicinal patch. Whatever it is applied to, it sticks to that. Likewise, whatever our heart touches, it sticks to it. When it touches education, it sticks to education. When it touches business, it sticks to business. When it touches money, it sticks to money. When it touches our family, it sticks to our family. Someone may say, “If our heart is like this, then I do not want anything.” However, the Lord will tell that one, “No, that is not the way of My salvation. In My salvation you should have a family, bear responsibilities, become a husband and a father, do business, have a career, and lead a proper life, but all these things should not have the ground in you.” This is the price that we must pay. What is it to pay the price? It is to empty our vessel for God to come in. Every inch of ground in us has to be given to Christ. When we give Him the ground, we will have God in us, and we will have the infilling of the Spirit.
Some fifty years ago in a Western country, there was a group of saints who were pursuing the infilling of the Spirit. One of them was a sister who loved the Lord very much and who was also pursuing the infilling of the Spirit. She prayed and waited. Then she prayed and waited again. While she was praying and waiting there, she felt that she had given the Lord the ground in her. It seemed that the Lord could do whatever He wanted to do in her except deal with her hair. During that time in the West, the most fashionable way for a woman to arrange her hair was to set it very high, like a tower. This sister allowed the Lord to touch everything she had except her tower-like hair. When she had the feeling that the Lord wanted to deal with her hair, she told the Lord, “Lord, if You touch my money, I am willing to offer it. If You want me to deal with my sins, I am willing to do it. However, my hair is really an insignificant matter, so please leave me alone.” We can see that this sister’s hairstyle was not sinful, nor was she loving the world by having this hairstyle. Many sisters today cut their hair very short and do not consider that they are loving the world. The problem is that man likes to reason. Who can say that setting one’s hair very high is loving the world, while cutting one’s hair very short so that it looks like neither a man’s nor a woman’s is not loving the world? The question we must ask is, who has the authority? Is the authority over your hair in your hands or in the Lord’s hands? Who is the master of your head—you or the Lord?
Our reasons may be very plausible, but the Lord never listens to our reasoning. In a sense, He is unreasonable. Our “lawsuits” with the Lord are always one-sided. There are no plaintiffs and defendants. There is only His side. Whatever He says, that is it. There is nothing to argue about. During a meeting, the sister mentioned earlier came and, kneeling down, cried out loudly, “Lord, why do You not answer my prayers? Why have You not filled me with the Spirit? Lord, I have been so desperate. I have been praying and waiting. Whatever You wanted me to do I did. Why have You not given me the filling of the Spirit?” Then the Lord asked her, “Have you done all that I asked you to do? What about your hair?” She was speechless. On that day she knelt down and pulled her high hair down. Then she received the infilling of the Spirit. Once her hair was subject to the Lord, she was immediately filled with the Spirit. This is to pay the price.
What the Lord wants is not our wealth, our time, and our everything. What He wants is for us to allow Him to question us about everything. The Lord is not so cruel that He would ask us for everything that we love. The Lord wants us to allow Him to go through everything and to allow Him to have the ground in everything. The Lord will not necessarily fight against us to take away all our material possessions. The Lord may even give us more enjoyment, but the question is whether we will give Him the ground. All things are His. If we truly want to enjoy Him and love Him, we have to give Him the ground. Then we will be satisfied and will receive the filling of the Spirit. The Lord cares not for your hairstyle but for whether or not He has the ground. When you decide on your hairstyle, the Lord cares whether He is in it or not. What the Lord is fighting for is His authority and ground. Are the authority and ground in your hands or the Lord’s hands?
If we bring all these questions before Him and give Him the authority and ground, we are paying the price to “buy” Him. He will have the ground in us to fill us. Perhaps one day He will give us clothing that is much more beautiful than the clothing we wore in the past. The Lord is merciful to us. The question is whether we will completely give Him the ground in us. What is it to be a vessel? To be a vessel is to be empty within. Then the oil can be put into the vessel. In order to contain the oil, the vessel has to be emptied and has to give room for the oil. If the vessel has no space and is not empty, then the oil cannot be put in. We are vessels, and we have to be emptied for the Lord. This is to pay the price.