The Rich Young Ruler

Luke 18:18-23

¹⁸ A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ²⁰ 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”

²¹ “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

²² 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.”

²³ When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.

As a Christian you probably have heard the story of this encounter multiple times. I was listening to Michael Card sing about this encounter the other day and a new revelation came to me. This young man obviously felt something lacking in his relationship with God. He openly said I have kept all the commandments since I was a boy and yet he came to Jesus asking, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

He knew he needed something else to please God, but when he was told “sell everything you have and give it to the poor” he “became very sad, because he was very wealth.” Michael Cards lyrics say, “his money meant more to him than his soul”. Here is a guy who believed he was righteous by keeping “all the commandments” and yet he really was breaking the first commandment buy putting his wealth ahead of his relationship with God. His money was his God, his idle. It was more important than his eternal life.

The revelation that came to me was, this story is in the Bible to teach us more than do not let your money be your god. To me it means do not let anything be more important than God. I think the concept of money and faith have been preached enough we know that money is not sinful, it is the love of money that takes us away from God. So, the question that came to me was, what is in my life that I love so much that if God told me to give it away or eliminate it completely would make me, “become very sad” and walk away from God’s request?

Think about three areas of commitment we are called to: time, talent, and treasure. Am I doing just enough to look good? If God let me know I need to give more to the Kingdom, or I need to change my career to better build into the Kingdom, or I need to spend less time with my hobbies and more time with my family, how would I react? Would I joyfully follow His lead or “become very sad”?

All these questions come back to our relationship with God. One of my favorite books written recently is Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman. He asks the question are you a fan or a follower of Jesus? Fans are there for the good times but leave when things get hard or uncomfortable. Followers are “all in.” Followers follow God’s lead no matter what. The ultimate question is who is in charge of my life, God or me? God is either sovereign or not. To me it is that simple.

We just had our second son die in the last three years, both in their early ‘50’s. Can I say to God that was unfair? They were great guys. Many people loved and respected them. A loving God would not have let that happen. Of course not. There are things in this world that I do not understand, but they cannot come between God and me. As Jesus said in the garden, “Let Your will be done Father, not Mine.” That is the only answer.

So, I leave you with this challenge. If God said to you, “Give it away and follow me”? Is there anything that would stand between you and God…for eternity? Your spouse, your kids, your finances, your career, anything?