Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’” The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich. When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich 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!” Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world can be saved?” He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.” Peter said, “We’ve left our homes to follow you.” “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.” Luke 18:18-30
One reason skeptics have
always sought ways to discredit Jesus’ divinity is the obvious flaw in their wishy-washy
lack of faith and the obvious discomfort felt over having to deal with someone
who uncovers the soft underbelly of their weak argument. What’s really at stake for the skeptic is the
risk of being uncovered as a failure. Ouch!
This rich young ruler had a
terrible insecurity about his life’s path and if he was on the right
track. He came to Jesus for advice, or,
more likely, simple affirmation that he really was a good man and had nothing
to worry about. His was the garden
variety, bland and ambiguous blur of non-faith that wants I’m OK; You’re
OK to rule the day. His
question was begging a pacifying placebo; just tell me I’m ok so I can
feel good and not worry about this thing on my insides that’s eating my lunch day
after stinking day! But
Jesus never settles for a good feeling; He’s all about the truth that sets one
free[2].
Even human psychiatrists know
better than to tell you what to
do. A main principle of psychiatry is that
the answers we seek to our deepest questions are already locked within our
minds; a psychological helper is one who comes alongside to help uncover what
you already know. And that is the dark truth
the rich young ruler did not want to face.
He understood, firstly that he had ignored how his wealth had changed
him, enabled him to avoid the poor. His
soul craved goodness (that’s why he raised that issue when he went to Jesus), but
he was deeply afraid it was out of his reach.
Jesus reflected that fear back to him, and the mirror revealed a not-too-pretty
truth…the young man saw just how tied he was to his riches (which are transitory,
a mere mist that will fade), and how uncommitted he was to the reality of
eternity. He trusted his money more than
his Creator. It is no wonder he walked
away dejected and broken, all the fingers pointing at his failure were attached
to his own hands!
For You Today
If you’ve stayed this long with
me today, and if you haven’t confessed your love of money recently, you may be
avoiding the mirror.
Let Jesus hold the truth
mirror up in the rich young man’s story; it’s not pretty, but it’s
not failure. The only real failure in you
or me is refusing to look at the truth.
But if you trust Him enough to let Him show you what’s deep-down inside
you, that truth will set you free
Go to VIDEO
[1]
Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The
New Living Translation©
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