Luke 18: 18-22 -- Deborah R.
A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’]”
“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Treasure in heaven. Who would not want treasure in heaven? Obviously not this person since he went away sad,
not willing to exchange what earthly things he had for treasure in heaven.
The truth of it is that to inherit treasure in heaven we have to let go of that which we hold to most tightly: home, family, possessions, career, ambition, position, power. That is following Jesus all the way to the cross.
Sadly, this person didn’t know that following Jesus to the cross also meant resurrection – receiving many times as much in this age, and the age to come—eternal life.
Ironically, he missed out on the very thing he wanted.
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