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.”
Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he
said. “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and
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 as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and
property—along with persecution. And in
the world to come that person will have eternal life. But
many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem
least important now will be the greatest then. Mark 10:17-31 (NLT)
Mark
says that the disciples were astounded at what Jesus taught; one translation
used the word “perplexed”. If a rich man
didn’t have enough to give up so God would be happy enough to accept him, what
chance did anyone stand?
Perplexing
indeed!
The
so-called “prosperity gospel” is like that; you think you’ve got all the right
verses lined up to build a life’s system….cast your bread – it comes back; seed
this, anoint that, speak the right words…and presto….instant wealth, health
and happiness!
Then
comes the side-order of persecution or family trouble, job loss – and what do
you do with something that doesn’t fit all your prosperity thinking? Your success formula has been wadded-up like
a bad poem and tossed in life’s garbage can.
What now?
This
is what the rich man felt when he turned away from Jesus. By all outward appearances he had it right –
wealth was a sign of God’s approval in that culture. He had the wife, 2 kids, dog and white picket
fence. He was a good man who had kept
the commandments diligently, and yet there was something nagging on the inside –
what had he left out?
This
is why he came to Jesus to ask. And that
nagging feeling didn’t mislead him; he was asking all the right questions – what do
I lack?
The
problem was that Jesus gave him a simple answer that hit the center of his life,
a life which had been built around his riches…and he just couldn’t handle the
question.
P.S.
– neither can you!
That’s
why Jesus said we should get in HIS yoke – saddle up with
Him; He is the one who can handle our questions, doubts, fears and camels that
don’t fit through needles.
For You Today
That
question – what do I lack – go on and ask it. He’ll carry you through the answer.
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