Wednesday 22 Dec 2021

December 22: Matthew 19:16-22

Key Verse: Matthew 19:21
Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’

Devotion:
Some people take these verses and twist them to make others believe rich people will not be able to enter into heaven. This is not what Jesus was getting at here. This was the answer Jesus gave for a particular man who came to get an answer from Him. This man may have been wealthy by some people’s measure and yet may have been ‘normal’ according to others people’s wealth – we shall not know unless we are able to question him ourselves.

This man was looking for a way to get into heaven and he came to ask Jesus directly for the answer. Jesus knew him and answered him according to how well he was known by Jesus. First, Jesus took some of the commandments and recounted them to the man. These are the ones which this man had been able to keep. Jesus wanted to show him how well he knew him.

Next, the man asked for a deeper answer because he knew he had kept these already listed. What came next was not what the man expected. Jesus told the man to sell up everything and give it all to the poor. Why did this upset the man so much? Because the man held high regard for wealth. He had worked hard for what he had and did not want to give that up. This was the only thing holding him back from getting to heaven!

If we ask God what we should be doing, we had better be ready for an answer which may cause us to have a bit of a crisis with how we live. Jesus wants us to have God as number one in our lives. This means leaving everything else behind and keeping God as number one. Yes, it is difficult to do; but when Jesus gave the commandment to love the Lord our God with all out heart and soul, He was referring to everything in our lives.

Points to Ponder:
What do you think is the most important thing in your life?

Are you willing to make that second to God?