Sometimes we need to consider what keeps us from following Jesus. What separates us from God?
Our sermon on Sunday was about the, “Rich Young Ruler.” The story is found in all three Synoptic Gospels, but Sunday’s focus was in Mark, Chapter 10. It’s a story that makes many of us squirm. There are those that skip the story altogether, thinking that if this is what it means to follow Jesus, then they aren’t interested.
A young fellow walks up to Jesus and asks Him what to do to have eternal life. Jesus tells him to follow the commandments. The young man assures Jesus that he’s done that since he was a kid. I picture him feeling pretty squared away at this point.
I think he represents a perfect example of how many of us who have grown up in church and spent all of our lives there feel. We know the rules. We obey the rules. Check and check! Whew! That’s all we have to do. Right?
Verse 21, really grabs me when it says, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”
Do you sense a, “but,” coming up? Now notice, Jesus doesn’t tell him not to follow the rules or keep the commandments. He told him those were important in the earlier verses. However, the “but,” that has many Westerners screaming for the hills, is the second half of the verse, “One thing you lack, he said. Go sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.”
Did Jesus just say to go to Heaven that we have to sell everything we have and give it to the poor?
Nope, He said that young man needed to. Why would He say that?
The next verse tells us that his face fell and he went away sad because he had great wealth. Ahhh, there’s the heart of it. To get to Heaven, the man needed to follow Jesus. What would keep this particular man from following Jesus? Jesus knew what it was. It was his wealth.
His wealth was his idol. It came first. It came between him and Jesus, so it came between him and Heaven. Jesus knew this and He shared it. But, the young man wasn’t willing to hear it and walked away.
But, the wealth was just an example of many barriers that keep us from following Jesus. It’s a common one, so much so that the camel and they eye of the needle verse follows. Jesus knew that people who had all of their worldly needs provided for often didn’t feel a need for God.
But, we have plenty of other idols. Don’t we? They can range from watching sports, to playing golf, to time on our boat at the lake, to being in a relationship with someone who doesn’t believe. When those things become more important than Jesus, we are called to let them go.
We can’t worship Jesus and put other things on the same level with Him. It doesn’t work. To truly follow Him and become more like Him, we are called to put other things that interfere, aside.
But, the good news is, Jesus promises that it will all be worth it in the end. What keeps you from following Jesus?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂