Rich Young Man
Scripture: Matthew 19:16-22 (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)
16 Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 “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.” 18 “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. 19 Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?” 21 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.” 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. (Matthew 19:16–22 NLT)
What good deed must I do to have eternal life? The young man asked Jesus a sincere religious question. (Religion is often much concerned with earning that which is God-given by grace.) Jesus responded with an un-Jesus-like answer, “Keep the commandments.” The young man asked, “Which ones?” Jesus listed six of them, all having to do with our actions toward other people, not religious actions toward God. The young man said, “I’ve kept those commandments all my life, and there’s still something missing!”
As far as doing all the religious stuff, keeping the commandments, even the commandments about treating other people well, this young man was right on track. But in his heart, he recognized that something was missing, the thing that would connect him to eternity. So Jesus said to him, “If YOU want to be perfect (complete, whole, mature, with the hole in your heart filled), YOU need to go and sell all your stuff, give the money to the poor, then with only the clothes on your back, come and be my disciple and hang out with this motley crew of ex-fishermen, ex-tax collectors, ex-political radicals, I’ve gathered around me!” Jesus didn’t say everyone needs to do that, but this young man did because it was his wealth and possessions and his sense of superiority to others that was keeping the hole in his heart from being filled. Let’s not let anything keep the hole in our hearts from being filled!
Prayer:
Father, I want to have eternal life, but I want to start living a Kingdom of Heaven life right here and now. I know I’ve got my own tough Jesus challenges to face, but don’t let me ever walk away sad! Keep challenging me! For the Kingdom’s Sake! Amen.