Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” the man asked. And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?” Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and 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 young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Matthew 19:16-22
On the pages of Scripture, we find a
commonality of human experience, namely, except for Jesus, there isn't a
sinless character in the Bible. I'm glad
we see the "warts" of such heroes as Moses, Abraham and Peter. Each of them experienced that what's
the use feeling from time to time.
Aimlessness, or purposelessness, is tied very closely to man's innate
need to know and experience the presence of God. It is the lack of that
close relationship with God that causes the void in life.
An unbeliever experiencing that void is
understandable. His need can be filled
by being born again. But, what about
when a professing Christian is aimless?
Does that mean he really isn't saved?
That may be so in some cases. In
many more it is simply a signal that the believer has dropped the ball in his
relationship with the Lord. God is never
the one who drops the ball! God is our
purpose and reason for living. Without
Him as our focus, we tire of life's toys and distractions and begin to feel
empty.
The common human experience is that nobody
is immune to the void. In the account of
this rich young ruler, it was that restless feeling that there was something
he'd left undone with his life that prompted this question. It's very much like attending your wife's
high school reunion . . . unless you went to the same school, somehow you just
don't fit in.
Jesus pointed the man to all God had said
about behaving yourself. But the man
wasn't content with superficial rules-keeping; he'd done
that all his life. He was rich, obedient,
morally-sound; he had everything you need for a bell-ringer of a life! But, inside there was no peace. We can't be fulfilled outside of a close,
loving fellowship with God.
The tragedy of our current culture which
is obsessed with booze, materialism, Hollywood glitz and sex, is that the frantic
race for a higher high, a longer lasting popularity, and different experience
is exactly what rocker Mick Jagger howled in his Rolling Stones days: I try, and I try, and I try, and I try;
I can't get no satisfaction! Grammar
aside, the man expressed what the whole world should know, apart from Jesus,
you can't get no satisfaction!
Those who've never been born again have
never known genuine satisfaction. Those
who have, should know better than to slip away from that close fellowship. But we do! And the reality about emptiness is
that we choose it. Jesus wanted the
ruler to choose a relationship with Himself.
The only requirement was to remove whatever stood between. The man had already dealt with the one thing
that trips most of us - pride! Just
coming to Jesus with his questions shows the ruler wasn't prideful. The problem was his materialism. When confronted with that choice - Jesus or his
wealth - the ruler was sad. He was sad
at having glimpsed the one thing that would have given him peace (what he was
really seeking) and choosing the opposite.
We are strange people indeed, when we
choose death over life. Pagans choose to
remain separated from God eternally.
Believers, who have tasted the goodness of fellowship with God,
sometimes choose to wallow in the emptiness of unbelief.
For You Today
Reality is that you cannot have new life if
you refuse to let go of the old.
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Title Image: Heinrich Hofmann Public
Domain, via Wikimedia
Commons
Unless noted, Scripture used
from The
New Living Translation©
