The Rich and the Kingdom of God

 

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.’[a]”

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.

via Mark 10:17–22 – The Rich and the Kingdom of God – As – Bible Gateway.

 

To say we live in a consumer driven world here in America would be an understatement.  “Keeping up with the Jones” used to be a popular phrase that described how we would compare our stuff to someone else’s stuff in order to find merit in our lives.

Possessions have no merit in Jesus’ kingdom.  We can accumulate all that we ever think we want and still not be able to enter the Kingdom of God.  I can think of so many times when I thought about something that I believed would bring satisfaction to my life.  In every instance, the possession of that item paled in comparison to my perceptions.

The Kingdom of God is only obtained through our love of Jesus.  What would you give up to obtain this?