“…and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Luke 18:22

Choose Wisely

In Luke 18 Jesus encounters a young man who has sought Him out. He asks Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. On the outside this young man looks good. He is wealthy. He seems to be seeking spiritual truth. He takes his questions to Jesus. And yet somewhere within, the young man knew things were not right. Although he looked good on the outside, in his heart he wanted life on his own terms and he was seeking confirmation that he could have his own way and still be seen as righteous.

Jesus began by bringing God’s word to bear. “You know the commandments…” God has made His will known. It is already made plain. God said what He meant and meant what He said. This young man wanted to pick and choose. He would obey in those things he felt comfortable with and neglect those things that challenged his self-rule. His confidence and his god were in his money, his comfort, his own power and reputation. God does not tolerate idols. He will be God and nothing less. The young man was made sorrowful with this spiritual revelation, and now he had a choice to make.

We all have a choice to make. Will we obey God or will we rationalize and manipulate until we get our own way? This young man chose the life that wealth could buy and walked away from Jesus. He did not want his “religion” to cost him anything. Note that he walked away sorrowful. Whatever idol supplants God’s reign in your life, it will never satisfy or bring you any happiness. In reality, he was leaving the true wealth behind.

I know that as enticing as sin may be, it only brings sorrow. It brings sorrow to man and sorrow to God. Jesus was sorrowful as he watched the young man walking away. Yet Jesus did not plead with him, nor did he run after him. Jesus has spoken truth to us. Now we have to choose.  Will He be God or will we seek the kingdom of self? Choose wisely.

Father, search us and show us anything that usurps Your righteous reign in our hearts. Be sovereign God in our lives and enable us by Your Spirit to lay down our dependence on temporal things that ultimately fail and will leave us brokenhearted. Oh God, be God! Amen.