At First....

 ¹⁷ As 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. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’^[d]” ²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
 ²¹ Jesus 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.” ²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.-Mark 10:17-22

This is one of my favorite stories from the Gospel.  It's so real.  People often miss the point of this story.  It's not about money.  It's about trust.  Can we trust Jesus to provide when we say "yes" to his call?  Do we know in our hearts that if Jesus were to ask it of us, we would give up whatever we consider our own treasure?


It's really easy, from the perspective of our hindsight, to say that the rich, young man was foolish to go away refusing to give up his wealth.  But how many of us hold on to our own treasures just as tightly?  I confess, I would have done exactly as this young man did. I have done it many times in my life... at first.


There have been times in my life when Jesus has asked me to give up something for the sake of his Kingdom.  No, he hasn't asked me to sell everything I own and give it to the poor... nothing quite so dramatic.  He has asked me to give up some precious time every now and then.  He has asked me to serve in ways that take me out of my comfort zone.  He has asked me to give a little more money than I wanted to.  And I have often said "no"... at first.


But Jesus doesn't let it end with my walking away.  He looks at me and loves me.  And love is always an action word, especially when it involves Jesus.  When I walk away, Jesus continues to work in my heart.  He keeps hitting my heart with his request, and I feel my faith strengthen.  And I remember all the times that God kept God's promise.  And I realize that Jesus just wants to give me some more of that cool, abundant life stuff.  And I come back.  And I say, "Yes!"  And I am sooooo blessed.


The Bible story doesn't follow up on this rich, young ruler.  But I like to think Jesus did the same with him. He loved him until his heart changed.  I would bet he ended up selling everything he had and giving it to the poor and then went back and found Jesus and followed him.  And I know that if he did, he was soooooo blessed.


Jesus,
Thank you for not taking my first "no" for an answer.  Thank you for looking at me and loving me.  Thank you for working in my heart to change my "no" to a "yes" and making my life more abundant and blessed. Amen.


Joys:  Awesome beauty in my hike yesterday; the smell of Fall; could the weather BE any more perfect?