Jesus and the rich young man. Pt. 1

Matthew 19:16-22

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"

"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."

"Which ones?" the man inquired.

Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Its interesting that the commandment that was ultimately broken was the first: Put no other gods before God. The man's wealth was his god, and Jesus knew that. Jesus offered a way out of the man's love of wealth, but the man loved the his earthly riches more than he cared about eternal life. Its actually something evident in our culture today. Instant gratification is more important than the long term consequences.

As Christians we are not immune from that mindset either. We must be careful that we have nothing in the way of our relationship with God.