Aghast!

An old school chorus popped in my head this morning Father – all praise to You!

What a mighty God we serve
what a mighty God we serve
Angels bow before Him
Heaven and earth adore Him
What a mighty God we serve.

Mark 10:17-22 (<<click to read the passage)

I don’t understand why but it seems that in life quite often things come easy for certain people and for others it seems nothing comes easy. As I read this passage this young man seems to be of the former category.

He was not snooty but was quite respectful and polite. But the way he asked his question of Jesus, you just get the feeling that he expected Jesus to give him a simple answer and that he would go do whatever it was and he’d be in. He was a good guy. He did the right things, said the right things – it all was naturally easy for him.

Even with Jesus’ initial response about keeping the commandments, I’m sure in his mind he was thinking, ”Yeah, I’ve got this. I’ve worked hard and been diligent in all the right areas since I was a kid.” He wasn’t haughty about it – it was just a matter of fact. It’s who he was; it’s how he lived his life.

And Jesus loved him for who he was – Jesus loves us all for who we are! But He also knows who we are and because of that, He can get right to the heart of our issues. Jesus says to him,

“You lack one thing: go and sell all your property and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have [abundant] treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk].” v21b AMP

Jesus might as well have slapped him across the face! He was aghast! His one vice, the one thing he couldn’t let go of…it was his security line! He may have been a good commandment keeper but my Life Application Study Bible says, “Ironically, his attitude made him unable to keep the first commandment: to let nothing be more important than God (Exodus 20:3). He could not meet the one requirement Jesus gave –to turn his whole heart and life over to God. The man came to Jesus wondering what he could: he left seeing what he was unable to do.”

Lord Jesus, I know that You love me for who I am but I also realize that You know who I am as well. May I never let anything come between us. I feel I have given my whole heart and life over to You but I also realize that I am a work in progress. I feel I am where You want me to be but it’s not yet where You want me to be. In Your strong and mighty Name, I ask these things. Amen.

June 4^th, 2019, Tues, 10:33 am