“A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. [Jesus looked at him and loved him.] When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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.” Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (Luke18:18-27)
So precious. God is good!
How often do we walk away from the Lord because we don’t really understand what He’s saying? (BTW, try not to do that, lol) I was reading about Jesus being with the rich young man, and it says Jesus looked at him and Loved him. Can you imagine the look on Jesus’ face for perhaps Peter (it’s recorded in Mark, and likely Peter helped Mark write his gospel) to have realized that Jesus was really in love with that young man? Imagine what must have been going through the Lord’s heart when He recognized the potential and the quality inside of that young man, that he was meant to be a Spirit-filled life-giver just like Jesus was and just like the other disciples became?
So the Lord says, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything…” and I imagine right about there, the young man’s heart dropped. Sell everything? But notice what Jesus said. He said “You still LACK one thing,” implying one that the rich young man wasn’t as rich as he thought. But also, what one thing was Jesus talking about? Was He talking about being generous or not being covetous? I don’t think so. I believe the Lord was saying, “I love you. You lack this one thing: life! You need life! You need me! So C’mon! Sell all that other stuff that’s holding you back and come with me! Follow me! I’m the way, the truth and the life, and I’ll give you life! And the fruit of your life and walk with me will far outweigh these initial costs. You’ll get it all back, but you’ll have life, and you’ll realize that’s all you ever needed in the first place. It’ll be fun! Let’s do it :D”
But the young man didn’t understand. He walked away sad, and I just imagine that the Lord’s heart was hurt in that moment for a time. Ever see potential in someone and watch them walk away from it instead of walking towards it? Yeah. That was that moment to the Lord. So my question is to you, do you understand? 🙂 Do you understand what the Lord is really saying and what He’s really trying to do? My friend, He loves you. This thing is rigged for your victory! Let’s go get Him 🙂 He’s so good ❤
GodisGood 