mark 10:17-22 ::  the rich young ruler

or socialist agendas, too. imagine all the people living life for You, Jesus.

now, you may say i’m a dreamer, well i’m not the only one. maybe some day you will join us, as the whole world lives for the Son.

i always feel sad for the young man here. that his stuff, his worldly possessions, held his enthusiasm at bay and restrained him from living a powerful life for Jesus. and then, very wrongly, i think that i am glad not to be in his shoes and all hung up on my stuff. and i may talk a good game when it comes to living simply, and i make pretty frequent drives to goodwill to drop off stuff that i’m tired of, and i’m not your average consumer carrying around thousands of dollars in debt so i could get more. in fact, i’m very happy not to have any credit cards. but my stuff still takes up a decent amount of my time and resources. house payments, insurance for the house, insurance for the cars (paid off, thankfully, but still costly) and little bits and pieces here and there that nibble away.

this rich young ruler, though, seemingly abandoned all hope of getting past this in his life. this issue of pride in wealth and status looks to hold him back forever from true service and devotion to Jesus. and i will not settle for that in my life. i will not say that where i am in my relationship with God is so great that i don’t need to abandon a few more “things” that are keeping me from spending time with Him. “things” that restrain my efforts to live a life that will please Him, and stand as an example to others of what He can do to invoke change, real quality change, in my life.

it’s not just a matter of making my spiritual checklist, and ticking off items one by one. but rather, taking a hold of what Christ lays before me and with a passion and conviction behind what i do, day by day live out that calling to leave all else behind in order to serve my Master and King in everything that i do.