17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not defraud. Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Prayer Focus: A man comes up to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. It is an odd question as we typically do not “do” anything to inherit, we merely receive. Jesus provides a list of several commandments, and the man responds that he has kept all of these since his youth. Then Jesus looked at him and loved him. I wonder if that love was a kind of “bless your heart” moment in that Jesus recognized the man really had no idea what he was asking. But Jesus loved him anyway. Jesus tells him to sell everything he owns and give the money to the poor, but most importantly he was to follow Jesus. Did Jesus know the man would never follow as long as he had many possessions? What holds you back from following Jesus? Pray that you might open your heart to follow him today.
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