Tag: Rich Young Ruler

Morning Musing: Mark 10:21-22

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Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. (CSB – Read the chapter)

My oldest son learned about figurative language this year in school. I know that because, thanks to Covid, most of his lessons about it happened over my shoulder in my office. He learned about and has gotten pretty good at identifying oxymorons, idioms, similes, metaphors, and the like. One of the items that didn’t make his list is the paradox. A paradox is a statement that seems totally absurd, but proves true upon further examination. Of all the paradoxes there have ever been, this man seeking the source of eternal life from Jesus discovers one of the most challenging of the bunch.

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Morning Musing: Mark 10:18-20

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“‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus asked him. ‘No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever gotten exactly what you wanted, but felt like there was still something missing? I remember saving my money when I was little to buy a Super Nintendo. My folks wisely didn’t give me any help with it. I saved and saved for months. Then the day finally came. My mom took me to GameStop and I made the big purchase. A brand new Super Nintendo and one game. I played through the game quickly over the next couple of weeks…and that was it. Then it just felt kind of empty. Now what? One of the things we see in the story of the man asking Jesus about eternal life is that sometimes this kind of let down can happen on a much larger scale.

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Morning Musing: Mark 10:21-22

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“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

This is one of those sayings of Jesus that have given people trouble for a long, long time. What did He mean by this? Was He being literal with this command? Was this a one time thing or something He intended for a broader application? Is this something we can reinterpret as metaphorical, or was He somehow saying that just poor people can get into Heaven? What are we supposed to do with this? Read the rest…

Wealth Has Gravity

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This week we kicked off a brand new teaching series called Gravity: Overcoming the Weight of Our Stuff.  For the next few weeks we are going to take a look at the pull that our stuff can have on our lives, including keeping us from drawing as near to God as we would like, and how we can overcome it.  In this first part, we look at just how strong this pull can be.  Thanks for being a part of this conversation.

Wealth Has Gravity

Rich people have it made, don’t they?  I mean, if you’re rich and something breaks, you can just call someone to come fix it.  Better yet, you can just throw the old one out and get a new one.  When you’re rich and a new version of something you have comes out, you can just go and get an upgrade.  When you’re rich, you don’t have to do things like wait in line at a theme park.  You can just pay extra money and walk right to the front.  When you’re rich, you don’t have to worry about transportation.  You can just drive one of the multiple cars you own.  Or, forget that, you can hire someone to drive for you.  Think about that: When you’re rich, you can get someone whose job is to drive people around and have them drive you around wherever you want to go.  And oh, the things you can buy. Read the rest…