12.14.2010

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

Mark 10:17-31
"As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” "Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

When you read this passage what are the first thoughts that enter your mind?

Mine aren't that holy, they go something like this:

Aren't we saved by grace? So why should I sell everything if I'm getting into heaven anyways, plus my possession don't have that much of a hold on me so He wouldn't call me to something so extreme.

HAHAHAH

That's the sound of God laughing at my ignorance in heaven. Well I don't know that He would laugh, maybe it would be tears that I was missing the whole point. He likely mourns that I would so blatantly ignore His Holy Word and assume that it does not apply to me.

Here are the questions that have really hit me lately?

Do I really believe the Bible?

If yes, then why do I as a Christian think it's okay to skip over the hard stuff, to take the easy way, and to live my life as comfortably as possible.

Not once in the Bible does God call us to live a comfortable life. He calls us to sacrifice IT ALL for His glory, and for His name.

So what does this verse have to teach me?

No, I'm not rich by North American standards. But compared to the rest of the world, I guess I'm rolling in it. I have access to water, I have transportation, I have education, I have a job, I have a roof over my head, I have three meals a day. The truth is that is not that case for most of the world.

In this verse Jesus commands us to total surrender, He is telling us that unless we are ready to follow Him with everything we have, and unless we are willing to sacrifice all He has given us, don't bother. He turned this man away from being a Christian by commanding Him to do the one thing he wouldn't want to do. Give it all away. Does that mean that we all need to sell everything to follow Him. No! Salvation is earned by grace alone, but the more I learn about the Bible and Jesus the more I see that if you are His follower, it shows. It is evident in your life. Our love of Jesus should flow through our words, thoughts and actions. He could be calling me to sell it all. David Platt's Radical challenges calls you to pray over every single budget item you are spending money on monthly and ask God if that is how He wants you to spend that money, or if it should be going elsewhere. We don't ask God how to spend our money because we are scared of the answer, but this leads to my second point.

Many who are last, will be first. And many who are first, will be last. This isn't it. We are called to live our lives for God on this earth where it isn't easy, but as Christians we know that our reward is much greater on the other side. God doesn't call us to sell it all to make our lives miserable (in fact most people who sell everything to serve others find great joy and fulfillment, I don't think there are very many of them who miss their nice home and cars once they have had their eyes opened to real need) He calls us to sell it all and follow Him so that our reward in Heaven will be greater! He calls us to this because He loves us!

Jesus also wants us to know that our "stuff" can kill us.
1 Timothy 6:6-10 says "A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough. But if it's only money these leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after."

Wealth can cause us to lose our faith completely. Wow.

Verses 17-19 follow with, "Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life."

Tell them to go after God. I guess that's the point loud and clear. That's our purpose, that's our focus.

So now I'm left asking God how and what. I will admit it's scary. I don't know if I want to be homeless during a Manitoba winter. I don't know if I want to sell my car and walk to work every day. So I pray. I listen. I seriously consider what I spend my money on. I pray that if or when He calls me to something hard I will be willing to listen and go through with it. I ask Him what He wants me to give up so that someone else can eat, or go to school, or drink clean water. I want to serve Him with my life and I really don't need most of the stuff that I've sacrificed. My life is still happy and full in spite of what has been sacrificed. But I'm still working, and I know there are things that I am still holding onto and that will be really hard to give up when God calls me to sacrifice them. But I pray that He will prepare my heart for that time and that I'll be ready to follow His plan.

So I urge you to pray about your budget. Find one thing you spend money on every month that you could sacrifice to give to someone in need. It's not that hard. I seriously believe if you ask God if there is something He wants you to sacrifice for someone else.... He will probably answer. After all we serve a God who loves the least of these, who commands us to help the poor, widow and the orphan. He will answer if you ask how you can help these people because He loves them, just as much as He loves us. 

And isn't His love good?

Alisa


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