Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Here a rich man comes to Jesus for advice. He seems interested in doing more than keeping the basic commands of God. He wants to go farther and deeper in his spiritual life.
Jesus’ response is stunning. Sell everything and give to the poor!
Why?
The Teacher’s reason is equally dramatic. Doing so will increase the net worth of his heavenly account!
For most of us this seems a little far out. This young man didn’t like it either - At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Wonder what he was worth? According to the Teacher, in heavenly terms maybe this rich man's net worth wasn’t all that much!
So let’s take a moment to calculate our net worth. Add up the assets in the bank account, stocks and bonds, real estate equity and 401k then subtract our debts.
Whoa. Wait a minute. This isn’t our true net worth. This money isn’t ours because ultimately we can’t keep it. We are only temporary trustees of these things.
The Teacher is right again. Our real net worth – what is ours and can never be taken or abandoned at death – is what we give to the poor.
Let’s recalculate. What has God credited to our heavenly account?
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "
Some might be inclined to say, "Hey, no problem - I have little monetary worth!"
ReplyDeleteOh, but we do have problems. I think that Jesus pointed this out to the man because he knew it was the man's weakness.
So if Jesus looked at you and said, "This one thing you lack..." What would he challenge you to change!
Great application, my friend. Will read this to our church next Sunday at the time of the offering. Stan
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