STUMBLING BLOCK TO SURRENDER
Opening Prayer
God, give me the grace to release my grip on the things that I hold out of Your reach.
Read Matthew 19:16–30
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, 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.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In what areas of your life are you resisting surrender to the lordship of Jesus?We seek formulas for success; God desires a faith that surrenders.
In today’s encounter, a man presumes that doing “good” can secure him a place in the kingdom (16). Jesus shifts the focus away from good deeds to the “only One who is good” (17). The kingdom is not gained by adherence to laws, only in whole-hearted allegiance to its king. “What do I still lack?” the man asks (20).
Management studies make a distinction between efficiency, which has been described as “doing things right,” and effectiveness, which is “doing the right thing.” We may obey laws, but our love and loyalty can only be pledged to a person. Despite doing things right, by his scrupulous observance of rules and rituals, the man was guilty of an unsurrendered heart.
Does Jesus’ prescription: “go… sell… give…” (21) sound like just some more laws to obey? God doesn’t want our possessions; he just doesn’t want our possessions to possess us! The man’s “great wealth” (22) was the stumbling block that kept him from embracing Jesus’ central call, “Come, follow me” (21b). For you and me, that barrier may be pleasure, power, praise, prominence or something else…
Apply
Sometimes we follow rules just to get out of doing what God has actually asked us to do. What extra step is he asking you to make today?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to give greater, love deeper, and live more fully for You today.
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