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 We tend to assume that wealth, particularly wealth acquired at an early age, is an indicator of God’s great pleasure with someone.  Rather than being a blessing, sometimes money hinders someone with a good heart from serving God. 

This is exactly the case with the young, rich ruler who approaches Jesus in Luke 18.18-30.  It is very likely that Christ’s disciples thought this person was someone whom God favored and would accept without condition into the kingdom.  It seems reasonable to assume that he was a model citizen who, like Paul, could claim that he had kept the second tablet of the law from the days of his youth.  After seeing someone like this man walk away from Christ, it would seem impossible for anyone to inherit eternal life.  It is not impossible, however, just very, very difficult.  There are lessons we can learn from this story that will help us to see what we lack so that we might glorify God and rejoice on the day his son returns.

First, things are not always as they seem (cliché, yes, but eternally true).  Life is anything but fair, and while it might seem like people who love sin and hate righteousness are particularly blessed, that is certainly not the case.  God never promises rest to the righteous in this life, but the rest that God does offer far outweighs any momentary, light affliction we are suffering in this world.

Secondly, we face a decision that must be made every day, without fail.  Whom will we serve?  Wealth and self are two prominent idols that are ever ready to accept worship.  However, rather than seeking for the temporary pleasures of sin or the unfulfilling and temporal rewards this life has to offer, we should be seeking for treasure in heaven where there awaits an eternal weight of glory for those who love and glorify God.

Thirdly, if we want to be successful at glorifying God, we have to let God talk.  The young ruler, after asking which commandments he had to keep, cut Jesus off  in mid sentence upon hearing him recite from the stone tablets.  He had heard those things since he was a small boy and didn’t need to be reminded what they were.  Yet, it is absurd to think that Jesus believed eternal life could be inherited by following six of the ten commandments; rather than letting God speak to him through the Scriptures, this young man limited God to one stone tablet of rules.  Numbers 15.40 says that those who are holy will follow all of God’s commands, and it very possible that Jesus would have gone on reciting the entire law of Moses to make this point very clear.  Israelites who glorified God should have striven to keep the whole law and not just part of it.  If we limit God, we can never hope to be saved. 

How often do we do the same thing?  Do we search through the Scriptures and find the things we are good at doing and emphasize only those things?  Do we seek for and list the commandments that we have already kept rather than seeking for those in which we are still lacking?  Do we read and study the Bible to prove that we are saved, or do we seek to learn about God so we can become more like him each and every day?  These are hard questions to answer!

The young man in Luke 18 seems to have had a heart that wanted to serve God.  Jesus loved him for this reason, and he loves us no less.  Because Jesus loved him, he pointed out where he was lacking in his devotion to God.  Since Jesus loves us just as much, he still speaks to us daily through his recorded word.  How will we receive the words of Christ?  If we allow our flesh and its desires to win, we will walk away deeply saddened like the young man in Luke 18.  If we allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit of God, we can overcome the flesh and all the lusts of the world.  We can be renewed day by day in the inner person; we can continually be transforming until the day when we will be saved by the grace of God through our faith.  We must simply approach the truly good teacher and ask him, “What do I lack?”  Then we must read for the answer, take good notes, and begin glorifying God in all that he has said.  We must become those unworthy servants who are simply doing all that is commanded.