Story of the Rich Young Man...and Jesus! (1/2)

The Gospels uses both parables and stories to teach us about Jesus and His teachings. There are many parables that Jesus told and there are also many stories of people who met Jesus...The story of the rich young man is not a parable but one of the later...A story of a person who actually asked Jesus a question. And if I have learned one thing after reading all those stories...I know the one thing that always happens when a person meets Jesus face to face. That person is never the same. Blind people see. Lepers healed. Fisherman become disciples. Young rich man faced with a life-changing choice.

In this story of the rich young man, I think there are many teaching points and many "learning" points for us to discover. However, I want to focus on one for this devotional today and it is this...Love the Lord your God with all your heart...The rich young man ask what good thing must he do to be saved? Each of us could actually ask the same question and Jesus response is obey keep the commandments. The rich young men replies he has kept all the commands but still feels lacking. Jesus answers if you want to be perfect sell your possessions and give to the poor.

The story of the rich young man can be found in Luke 18:18-24 as follows: 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.’[a]” “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.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”