His Presence over His Promise

The story of Jesus and the rich man appears in the Gospel of Matthew 19:16-30,Mark 10: 17-31 and Luke 18:18-30.

A rich man came to Jesus, he asked; "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?". Jesus replied" why do you ask me about what is good?. The rich man wanted to be justified by good works. But Jesus said there is only One who is good.

Therefore we live to love God not to impress God. However Jesus told him; to enter life, obey the 10 Commandments. And the man responded "All these I have kept "the the young man added;" What do I lack", then Jesus replied; "if you want to be perfect" which implies "if you seek to be justified" then sell all you have, give to the poor and follow me. But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. It is important to note that Jesus told the rich man after giving to the poor - "You will have treasures in Heaven"(Matthew 19:21) but since by sight this was not visible, the rich man left sad.

However, though he obeyed the 10 commandments, Jesus knew the rich young man's real treasure was in his wealth. No one can be saved by just obeying the Law, total surrender is also needed. We are saved by faith.

One important lesson form this story; is that the rich man did not acknowledge he is a sinner, he thought he is justified by been a law keeper. Jesus indirectly challenged the rich man with the first and tenth commandment - to have no other gods and not to be covetous - by saying "go, sell all that you have". He preferred money over God (and by breaking these commandments, he has broken them all - for the tenth Commandment is a restatement of the first, and the first commandment is the essence of all of them). Jesus just showed him, he is not a law keeper as the rich man claims.

The Bible story of the rich young man teaches the detrimental effect money can have on one's desire for eternal life.

This also boils down to love, if the man loved God and other people more than he did his property, he would have been willing to give up his wealth to the service of God and man. He made an idol of his wealth and he loved it more than God. Jesus exposed the greed in the rich man's heart.

The rich man lived a life of extreme luxury. His riches separated him from God. Those who show mercy to the poor are in effect ministering to Christ personally (Mat.25:35-40).

It is clear that when death comes knocking on the door there is only one thing that matters: "our relationship with Jesus Christ". The Bible states in Mat.16:26 and Mark 8:36; "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeit his eternal?'.

 It is amazing that, the great king, who was there before creation, He who knows where the sun sleeps at night and where the moon goes to rest in the morning told the young rich man; "FOLLOW ME" but it can be assumed the rich man refused because, his mind was on the 20 houses he had at different locations around the world or the block of flats he owned at different areas in town. His mind went to his hotels all around the world and his chain of business abroad and locally. This obviously stopped him from following Christ. He may have asked himself what do I stand to gain if I give up everything. He was interested in God's promises over His presence. Many of us are like the rich man in the Bible, we are after God's promises. Moses longed for the presence of God, Israel longed for what God will do for them.

When asked in the Church what do you want God to do for you, you see people write a long list of prayer requests which include houses, cars, success for their children, good health etc but its difficult to find in that list "Father I want to know you more". The Bible states; seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all shall be added to you. Going to Church is not enough neither is belonging in a department in the Church enough. Even the Devil can live in Church. Total surrender is worth a lot to God.

Jesus healed the sick and resurrected the dead during his time on earth but Salvation came to man when Jesus gave up himself to die for us.

To belong to Jesus, we must live in Jesus. Not for what we want but for who He is. Love chooses presence over promises. Our identity is not in what we have, our identity is in Christ Jesus. A righteous heart wants to be in the presence of God because that is all that truly matters.

Shalom!