Between You and Jesus

A long time ago…in a country far, far away…there was a wealthy young guy. He had everything that he could ever want; all the stuff that anyone could ever want and more. He followed the rules and was a good guy. He didn’t sleep with his neighbor’s wife, he didn’t kill anyone, he never stole anything, he wasn’t a liar, and he honored and respected his mom and dad. He was a wealthy man and followed the rules.

In case you didn’t catch on to the story…this was a brief retelling of the first half of the story of the rich young man from Luke 18. The man came to Jesus and asked him what he had to do to have eternal life. Jesus told him to keep all of commandments, to which the young man responded, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.” I can picture Jesus in my head smiling and nodding and then quietly saying, “Yea…but you have this one thing standing between you and Me. Your stuff.” Jesus told the man to sell all of his stuff and give to the poor. Then he could follow Jesus. He made it very clear what needed to be done, and yet the man walked away from Jesus with sorrow. Jesus didn’t turn his back, the man walked away from Jesus.

The problem with the man was that he didn’t really want Jesus. He wanted eternal life. He probably came to Jesus expecting to hear, “Hey good job, you’ve kept the commandments, you’re in good shape!” But instead Jesus challenged him and said, “Hey…what’s consuming your life? Your stuff? Okay, now get rid of it and follow me.”

Jesus knew this man’s heart. He knew that his stuff consumed his life. If you aren’t willing to give up what’s most important to you in order to follow Jesus, will you enter the Kingdom of Heaven? This man let his stuff keep out of the Kingdom of Heaven. He let his stuff get between him and Jesus. What stuff are you letting get between you and Jesus? What’s consuming your life that isn’t Jesus? If it were you that came to Jesus, what would he tell you to give up? Would you give it up…or would you walk away filled with sorrow?