One thing I learned a long time ago is that the Bible makes sense. Some things, of course, are mystical and difficult to understand. Other things seem fantastic and beyond the reach of reasonable explanation. But in the grand scheme of all that we find in scripture, everything begins to make sense as we see God’s plan laid out before us.

With that in mind, when I hear Jesus say, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor,” I have to wonder: Does he mean for us to sell everything? It seems like quite a blanket statement on the surface of it. “Sell your possessions” has no qualifiers. He didn’t say, “Sell half your possessions,” or “sell a tenth of your possessions.” He merely said, “Sell your possessions.” Frankly, it sounds like he wants us to sell it all.

It really doesn’t make a lot o…