And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”
And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
I love the way that Jesus gets past the externals and goes directly to the heart of a matter. When he tells the man to "sell all that you have" he gets past obeying the Ten Commandments and addresses the deep seated issues of the heart. Many espouse that the man could not obey the Lord's command because of greed but I am not so sure that greed or materialism was the issue. Perhaps this man of great wealth simply did not trust the Lord?
Are you moved when you read the words "Jesus, looking at him, loved him"? What would it have been like to have looked into the eyes of pure love? I think that this is such a great example of the demeanor that we must express when we tell someone a truth that they do not want to hear. In reality we should never attempt to tell someone an uncomfortable truth if we are not confident that we are operating from a motive of love and care for them.
Help me Lord to really hear the hard things that you and others want to tell me.
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