May 29, 2022 - Mark 10:17, 19-20
“As Jesus was starting out… a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” [Jesus replied] …to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me”” Mark 10:17, 19-20 NLT
Lord, I think that this passage isn’t about the idea that people can’t be rich and follow you. I think it is about something that each of us will have to deal with whether we are rich, or poor. It is about our willingness to walk in obedience to whatever you ask. Even if we are a good Christian who loves you and follows all the commandments, as this guy was, if we place other things before you then our hearts are not right with you. For this man, it was his wealth. His wealth was something that he had likely worked really hard to earn and he valued. It was possibly something in which he found his security. Maybe it was something that gave him status and value.
Lord, we want to make sure that we are not placing anything above you. We want you to be the source of our security and our value. Show us any areas in our lives that we are making greater than you. If we are getting our security or our value from anything other than you, open our eyes to those things. Help us realign our lives so that each of these areas is lined up to Biblical truth. We want to be willing to say yes to anything you ask, because we value you above everything else.
In Jesus name, amen.
