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As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another,‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’ Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’ (Mark 10:17-31)
Happy Monday dear Friend! I pray that God has richly blessed you during this weekend and that this finds you blessed enough to bless others. May our time in study and prayer bless us to be a blessing to the Lord and His people. Nellie and I were blessed to have been in Corpus Christi late Saturday and early Sunday. We miss CC and we were welcomed warmly at First United Methodist Church where I was honored to have preached on prayer yesterday at their two traditional services. We thank God we went through some very heavy and scary rain heading to and from CC, safely and securely! God is good!
Some call him the rich young ruler, but here's what we know: He was young (he could run and kneel! Okay, I'm poking fun at men my age!), and we know that he had a lot of possessions. Yet, he was wise enough to know that Jesus had something that he wanted; the gift of eternal life. The man may have inherited his money, for he asks about inheriting eternal life. Jesus begins by correcting the record about being called "Good." God is good. That was Jesus' response, but he also said, "You know the commandments," and lists those listed in the above verse. The young man responds by saying he has kept these, and Jesus then says, "Go sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; then come, follow me." Ouch! Jesus knew the young man was all about money and asks of him something very difficult for that was the young man's response. "You can keep your eternal life; I'll struggle through here with what I have," may have been his thought. In fairness, some believe this was Joseph of Arimathea, who purchased the tomb for Jesus, indicating that he may have still followed Jesus but kept some of his money. The reality of which Jesus is speaking is this; if your possessions possess you, then you are not at all rich. If you can be generous and giving, and if your life is not defined by what you have in your bank account or in the car you drive, or the home that you own, then you are on the right track. It is not a sin to be rich. It is a sin to give up righteousness and to pursue money and possessions. It is a sin to be oppressive and rich. And as I have shared before, Rev. Rick Warren says, "It is a sin to die rich." Jesus stresses that whatever we give up for the sake of His work, will be repaid us in manifold ways. Houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, and yes, persecutions; we will receive these, but in the end, eternal life. Give up wanting to be first place, for the "first will be last, and the last will be first."
I have a colleague who gave away millions of dollars, in fact, his entire inheritance from his father, to become a servant of God. He is more content when we can preach, visit the sick, pray with people, and do good for the community than when he had all that money at his disposal. He is grateful to be alive, and to be active in the work of God. What about you? The Message version at one point in the above passage has Jesus saying, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who 'have it all' to enter God's kingdom?" Dear one, the truly rich things in our life many times have nothing to do with money or possessions; don't let those kind of things obstruct your vision of God's plan and purpose for your life.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, count us among the very rich, for knowing You and Your love for us. Count us wealthy for the joy of loved ones that surround us or bless us with hugs, kisses, notes, emails, and texts. Precious are moments even on FaceTime with family and friends. We do thank You for the "daily bread" of which we pray like Your Son taught us; and may Your will be done in my life today and all days. Make me faithful and fruitful. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Bless someone today with a rich smile and a generous hug!
Eradio Valverde
