The Rich Young Man

Mark 10:17-25 and Rev 3:16-17

¹⁷As 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?” ¹⁸“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.” ²⁰“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” ²¹Jesus 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.” ²²At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. ²³Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Destination Points

This passage means more than it seems. As i read, i remembered back to when a good friend of mine shared to me about Jesus. He said "If you BELIEVE in Jesus Christ as your personal saviour, you will be saved and have eternal life ryan." The next thing i know, i am in church and i heard a message claming that "As a believer, i need to walk with the lord daily - READing his words". Whoa, now this is requesting more of me, okay fine~~. Later, when you READ enough, you will find out that what should be done to have eternal life increases. You will then have to DO his command by sharing the gospel, and demonstrate the love of Christ to others. From Mark 10, the young rich man was probably a man that knows of God and his commandments, certainly from the scriptures, he fulfilled the commandments as well. That was not enough just yet, Jesus told him to GIVE away all his riches to the poor. Well, what do you know, you should have a heart of a missionary to give your all to others, your riches, your time, your effort in order to harvest the plentiful souls. Reading on, the last words Jesus said was "Then come, follow me". So i guess this means the end of the instructions for eternal life. So it actually means, you have to do it step by step.

BeLieVe > ReaD HiS WoRDS > Do HiS CoMMaND > GiVe and finally FOLLOW.

So it seems, the things you need to do to obey god that you may have eternal life isn't easy. It is also said, that you cannot be saved with the works of man, but only by the grace and mercy of God. It really beats me but I pray the Lord can help provide me with the answers, a more detailed and sensible one i hope.