“A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”…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. 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. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the 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.””
Luke 18:18, 20-24, 26-27 NIV
Another story we know so well…but the lesson…have we learned it?
This is not about what we own but what owns us?
A nameless young man came to Jesus…wealthy, probably from his inheritance…connected, since he seemed to have had a flawless upbringing, probably from his position in society…but deeply dissatisfied and longing for something else, hence his question. If wealth and position were all that mattered to him in life, why didn’t these things satisfy him?
Substitutes can never take the place of the real thing. God created humans to be connected to Himself by His Spirit in us.
“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 1:26-27 NIV
How did God do this?
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
Genesis 2:7 NIV
Unlike the rest of creation, which God spoke into being, God personally fashioned the body of the first human from the elements of the earth and breathed His own life into his nostrils to become a man in the image of God. He had God’s life in him with the capacity for fellowship with God because of their “likeness”.
Adam chose independence over union and lost the presence of God’s Spirit in him.
Anything else is a substitute and a very poor one at that.
This rich man was left to weigh up the odds. Luxury and pleasure now or eternal life now and forever? No pressure from Jesus…just options and choice. Why options? Couldn’t he have both? His problem was that his wealth fully occupied his heart. There was no room for ”both and”. His choice exposed what really mattered most to him. .
Unlike Zacchaeus, the wealthy tax collector who chose Jesus and voluntarily disposed of his “dirty” money without pressure, this man chose his money and walked away from Jesus poorer, emptier, and condemned to an eternity on the rubbish dump of wasted potential.
No wonder the rich man was sad…it was just too much to give up and, despite his empty heart, he clung to his gold and forfeited his opportunity to walk into eternity with Jesus. He couldn’t have both.
Society, culture, and even their religious upbringing had taught the Jewish people that wealth equalled God’s blessing. Now Jesus smashed that notion.
“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.”
Luke 18:24-25 NIV
“Well, if that is true, what hope do we have?” they thought!
However, Jesus assured His the onlookers that, even in an impossible situation like this one, God can do the impossible. He can turn slaves to money into lovers of God and teach them to use money as a servant, not a master.
“Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
Luke 18:27 NIV
To Timothy, Paul instructed…
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV
Money and possessions can never fill the void in the human heart. This place is reserved for Jesus alone. He is the living bread and water for the hungry soul.
To be continued…