Mark 10:17-27 NLT
As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’ ”
“Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him.
“There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions 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 away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!”
This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, 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.”
This is the one man who came to Jesus looking for the way to get to heaven but turned away with his heart broken. He came asking Jesus, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
He heard about Jesus, he probably knew about the miracles that Jesus did. He thought so much about Jesus that he came to Jesus looking for the answer that we all seek, how do we get to heaven?
Jesus told this young man that he must follow the Word of God. Jesus said told this man, “you know the commandments.” I find this interesting, Jesus knew the hearts of those who came to him looking for answers. When the religious leaders came to Him looking to trap Him into saying something they could use against Him, He knew their intentions.
Jesus knew this man’s heart and went right to the area that would be the greatest struggle for this man, especially after this man in his heart thought that he was a good man based on how religious he was.
Jesus said to him, “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Interesting to me with this dialogue is that after this man said to Jesus that he followed the commandments, Jesus started His statement with “There is still one thing you haven’t done.”
I’m guessing that if you were to observe this man, he would have appeared to be an upright man. Someone who would have been looked up to based on his “religious” activity.
But Jesus cuts right to the area that He knew would be a struggle for this man. He went after his wealth when He told this young man to “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
It says that “At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad.”
The Word of God goes on to say, “This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, 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!”
When we start to relinquish power to our possessions over our faith in God to provide for our needs, we will eventually turn from God and those around us to protect what it is that provides for our comfort in this world.
But we shouldn’t be living for the rewards and comforts of this world, as Christians we should be living this life with our eyes on the world to come.
Matthew 6:21 NLT
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
This is not to say that having things is bad but when we put those things in front of God and others it does become bad.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word and the lessons that You give us to learn.
I pray for a continued desire to be in Your Word. I pray that Your Word shapes my mind, affects my heart, and produces the action that You desire from me.
Thank You for the people You have put in my life.
I thank You for Your grace, mercy and forgiveness.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
