Matthew 19:16-30

Jesus and the Rich Young Man

17 "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."

18 "Which ones?" the man inquired.

Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"

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

21 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."

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

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"

26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

27 Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"

28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

The Camel and the Eye of the Needle

When mentioning the ten commandments Jesus focused on the ones having to do with relationship to others.

 

Christ did this throughout the Bible when showing others how to have eternal life in Heaven. His two commandments he gave were to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself.

 

Simple? Yes! Easy? No!

 

Jesus knew that if the disciples (and us) followed those two commands the rest would fall into place.

 

We would not murder or steal from those whom we love. It is impossible to love God and hate other people.

 

The Rich Man

 

When talking about giving all the riches away is Christ saying that we have to give up everything we own to follow him?

 

Of course not. God knows we have a responsibility to support our families and make a living. But, we do need to change some of the things we focus on like money, work and worries and concentrate more on God's will for our lives when asked.

 

We were all created with special gifts and these gifts should be used for the glory of God. Sometimes we squander them and distort them in such a way they are useless to us and to God.

 

Let's get in touch with where our talents lie, pray and ask God to help us use them to glorify Him. There is no better joy than to use a talent to the benefit of others.

Love in Christ

- Bob

Matthew 19:13-15 - Jesus Loves the Little Children - Sometimes we make things complicated as Christians but Jesus made it very clear as to how to follow him. Children trust others which is the way we should approach God as shown in these verses from Matthew.