Scripture of the Day
Matthew 19:16-22 (NKJV)
“Riches To Rags”
Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
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The young man was expecting to have eternal life by “Doing” something deserving of it. As if to say “I have done everything the law has required, so how do I claim eternal life!” JESUS named six commandments and the young man said that he had kept those commands since he was a little boy! Then the young man asked “What do I still lack?” JESUS told him to sell and give away all his stuff here on earth, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then he told the young lad to follow HIM! Now we have all heard the “Rags to Riches” or “Riches to Richer”, but who is willing to go from “Riches to Rags”. Some of us have worked very hard to have the little bit of riches we do have . . . so it can be very hard to give it all up and follow CHRIST!
I am reminded of Isaiah 64:6a, All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; The young man could not understand that even with all the riches of the world, our righteous acts are like filthy rags if we lack HIM! The big part that the young man missed (and a lot of us too), is that JESUS told him about the treasure in heaven before HE said follow ME! If we focus on all of our stuff before we follow CHRIST, then we will miss the fact that JESUS is promising us treasure in heaven . . . then HE invites us to come with HIM and receive it! It may seem strange to some, but I am happy to give up the riches of sin and live in the rags of Salvation! JESUS came from the high place to dwell among us in the rags . . . surely we can put down our small possessions to live for the King of Kings! The young man was afraid to go from Riches to Rags, because he missed the invitation into heaven! Have you accepted the invitation?
Love Sincerely
4 comments:
I've read this multiple times in the past but just noticed this: the young man asked what he is lacking and Jesus said "..if you want to be perfect..." Does one have to be perfect to enter the kingdom of heaven? What is considered riches..where does one draw the line?
The answer to the second question for me is heavily based on my conscience but how would you respond to the Christian who may not be mature?
The questions is "Does one have to be perfect to enter the kingdom of heaven?"
Answer: To receive eternal life into the kingdom of heaven, we must be made perfect! Not by what we can accomplish or what we have, but only by the perfect blood of JESUS! In JESUS we are made perfect!
Were the possessions holding on to the young man, or was the young man holding on to the possessions! One thing I have learned is . . . possessions only intend to stay around for awhile, but we try to hold on to them forever!
Our homes, cars, bank accounts, club memberships, etc. will only be around for awhile, so don't try to hold on to them forever! We are not suppose to be foolish and throw everything away, nor be lazy and never accomplish anything, but we should strive to be perfect in CHRIST! JESUS didn't say sell everything and give it to the church! HE didn't say sell everything and give it to a cult! HE said sell everything and give it to the poor! HE wants us to follow HIM into the kingdom of heaven
The question is "What is considered riches . . . where does one draw the line.
Answer: There are riches and there is wealth! Riches are connected to what we have and possess, which are usually the things we don't want to give up (can easily become our idols). Riches are not bad if we are using them to the glorification of GOD and edification of one another! Wealth is who we are! An example is, "He comes from a wealthy family"
The wealthy family is rich, however, they are not known for their possessions . . . they are known for who they are! We as Christians should not be known for what we have, but we should be known for who we are . . . and in CHRIST we are made "Perfect!"
God never ask us to give up anything without offering a replacement of something even better...in essence it can be considered an exchange and not a "giving up" of something. God is good like that and everything that He wants to give us, far exceeds what we think we have. When we walk around with our fist tightly clinched, thinking that we are protecting what we have, we are really preventing ourselves from receiving what God wants to place in our hands. Lord let us open not only our hands but also our hearts to you for you to freely remove(replace) and invest what you so choose in our lives; afterall, All good and perfect gifts come from above (YOU). We Love you LORD
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