LIFE SCRIPTS

“What commandments?” he asked. Jesus answered, “Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; respect your father and your mother; and love your neighbour as you love yourself.” “I have obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else do I need to do?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich.
Matthew 19:18‭-‬22 GNBDC

The rich young ruler had a need. A need of assurance. He needed confirmation that he would see the kingdom of heaven and he needed to ask Christ on what to do. When Christ listed to him the commandments, he agreed that he keeps all of them. He however still felt an emptiness within him. To address this emptiness and be perfect, Christ instructs him to sell all his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, take up his cross and follow Him. A tall order indeed. Christ now cuts to the chase and gives him the key to eternity…following Him. The man desired salvation. He did all that was good and could point him towards that direction. However, he was gripped with materialism. His wealth was a stumbling block to him entering the kingdom of heaven. Inasmuch as he desired so, he couldn’t because he was imprisoned. This is the state of our society today. One driven by materialism. We desire to make wealth and amass it and at the same time we desire Christ in us as long as His presence doesn’t interfere with our wealth. But given a choice between wealth and Christ, many of us including myself will struggle like the rich young ruler. Possessions might not be the only thing causing us to stumble. Other snares might be in the form of attitudes, habits, ambitions etc. Do our drives or ambition surpass our love for Christ? Does the love of our possessions surpass our love for Christ? If we were to exchange places with Job of old, would we come out bruised and bloodied but still believing in the Messiah? Paul, the apostle stated that…but we preach Christ, crucified. A stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. But to us, Christ, the power of God.