Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – 2 Samuel 5-9
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 19:18-21
Jesus: Well, to begin with, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Young Man: I’ve kept those Commandments faithfully. What else do I need to do?
Jesus: If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give all your money to the poor; then you will have treasure in heaven. And then come, follow Me.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Isn’t it just like us? The young man, I mean. Jesus explains in pretty simple terms what he needs to do to be assured of eternal life. He explains all he needs to do is obey God’s commands. So what does the young man do? He retorts with, “Well, which commands in particular? I really don’t have to keep them all, do I? Just tell me the most important one so I can concentrate on those. Give me the cliff notes so I don’t have to study so hard and let me just keep the one or two commands that are most important to God, okay?”
We do that in school. Hey teacher, just give us the answers to the test. Let us study those so we don’t have to learn all those principles and facts. Don’t make us waste our time learning all that stuff, just give us the answers so we can get the grade we need to pass. Or how about at work. Hey boss, what if we take some shortcuts on this project. No one will know. It’s all covered up by the time we’re done. No one will know we skipped some steps or used inferior parts. It will save us time and save you some money. What do you think? We want everything now. We want great success, but we don’t want to work for it.
We do the same thing in our relationships skipping in and out of marriages. Throwing away relationships like they have no affect on us or those around us. We want the short version so we don’t get locked into anything too deeply. We do it with our prayer life, our devotions, our Bible study.
Jesus doesn’t let the young man get away with that philosophy. The young man asks, “Which commandments in particular must I keep?” Jesus starts His answer knowing the conversation will continue. “Well, let’s start with the last six of the ten commandments and see how you do. Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself, that is do not covet.”
I can see the young man puff out his chest and stick out his chin as he gives his answer to Jesus. “I’ve kept all those commandments since my youth. What else do I need to do?” He knew deep in his heart there was something wrong. He hadn’t made the cut yet. He knew he didn’t have the keys to the gate yet. That’s an important point for us to see. We know if we are right with God. We don’t have to guess. We can examine our heart and know if we are bound for heaven or not.
On with our story. Jesus knew the young man’s problem wasn’t in lying or stealing or committing murder or not respecting his parents or adultery. He even knew the young man loved his neighbors. But the young man had a problem. Something got in his way in his relationship with God. Notice Jesus didn’t mention the first four commandments when He talked about keeping the commandments. He knew the young man’s answer would have been the same as it was for the last six, but Jesus knew the young man’s heart. So Jesus probed into his inner being and put His finger on the thing that had become the young man’s god.
Jesus said, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give all your money to the poor; then you will have treasure in heaven. And then come, follow Me.” Ouch! Things had become the young man’s god. Had Jesus asked if he obeyed the first four, no doubt, the young man would answer in the affirmative, just like we would. But when Jesus put His finger on the young man’s real god, the thing that mattered most to him, he saw what kept him from attaining eternal life.
The sad commentary that follows is copy for too many of our generation. Matthew says the young man went away sad because he was very wealthy indeed. You say, “But I’m not wealthy, money and things are not my god.” Then let me ask a couple of questions. Do you substitute sports for devotion to God. Do you substitute your lawn or upkeep on your house for devotion to God? Do you substitute your house for devotion to God? Are you kids extracurricular activities more important than your devotion to God?
What does your heart tell you when you ask yourself those questions? Only you and God know the answer. You can put on the airs of the young man who spoke to Jesus and everyone around you will think everything is in order and you’re on your way to heaven. But you know what God thinks. Is it time to find an altar and put all your possessions there? God accepts nothing less. But then, it’s His anyway, we’re just His temporary stewards.
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