He was rich , he was young, and he was a MAN! What more could a 1st century Jew ask for?

Yet it was not enough.

He was pious, upright and an earnest follower of the Lord. He had kept the Law as well as he could since he was 12.

But now he had seen Jesus, and listened to him, and a lot of his thoughts seemed to be turned on their heads.

Jesus really took to him, recognising his distress, recognising his honesty and his struggle with life and his efforts to be whole.

No matter how young and rich he was, the young man knew that something was missing. He lacked something that neither youth nor riches nor obedience to God's Commandments could give him.

A puzzle was that others who were not rich or successful or well versed in the Law seemed to have what he longed for. He had seen even the little children flocking up, eager to be with Jesus, to be close to him, to sit on his knee and to listen to him. Unlike the young man, they were prepared to abandon social and cultural expectations and just to delight in being with Jesus, even when the disciples wanted to tick them off and send them away.

Why was it so difficult for the rich young man?

One of the problems of being rich is that it is very difficult to enter the Kingdom of God. Possessions bring the stress of responsibilities. Moreover, whether they realise it or not, the rich have their wealth to protect them against all the unpleasant and painful episodes of life. You can usually trust money to resolve almost every problem .... like having a massive personal insurance policy. It is no bad thing, a very comfortable, confident situation, safe and secure.

But riches cannot guarantee eternal life.

That was what Jesus was offering.

All that the young man had learned about being good, about obeying God's Laws, now seemed a bit futile. No wonder he felt dissatisfied with the religion in which he had grown up. What must he do?

The invitation was to follow Jesus, not, now, to follow the Law. Now, one was to experience the significance of the Law, to understand the 'spirit' of the Law.

Keeping the Law is good, but it is no substitute for the readiness for self-surrender to the absolute claim of God imposed through the call of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Surrender so complete implies a renunciation of our own achievements and efforts and simply the reception of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

Are you dissatisfied with your life as a Christian? Dissatisfied with all that you try to follow? Are you looking unhappily for something that is lacking in your life, no matter how fortunate you are or how good a person you try to be?

Think of the rich young man and his longing to know what he must do to come into eternal life.

Don't hide yourself behind the Bible, behind the law, behind the list of good things that you do. This way, you might "do right and miss out" .... as the Pharisees did.

Look carefully at what you really trust in and put your faith in. Consider the little children. Come, unquestioning, to Jesus, and into the Kingdom!

Rick