“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.”


    This was Jesus' answer when a rich, young man ran up to him and asked him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.


    If you read the text in Mark 10, you will see how this rich young man has been obedient to the law: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.


    Yet, Jesus' answer to his question was not something he expected - for eternal life cannot be gained by the things we have or do. Jesus has made it clear that denying ourselves and following Him is the only way to it. No amount of charity works or wealth (or lack thereof) can secure us a seat in heaven.


    Like the rich young man, I had the same mindset before I heard the gospel. I thought that if I just lived a moral life, or was a 'good' citizen, and went to church on weekends, then I was set for good.


    And on the days that I fell short - missed church, fought with my mother, or did anything considered 'unholy' - I felt I had no right at all to come to Christ; like the disheartened young man, eternity felt like an impossible hope.


It's always this: I had to be 'good' first before I had the right to come to God. 

Good deeds = God's favor.


    It will probably take me until my last day on earth to grasp the truth that there is no other way to earn God's mercy except through Christ alone. He is God's ultimate favor for me, and He was given to me even before I had done one good thing. Only His righteous life and death on the cross can ever give me a right standing before God.


    For the young man, his deeds were his ticket while his possessions were his treasure. It might have become his sense of security. But the cost of salvation is beyond what a human can attain. And this is the very context of this often misused verse; it pertains to our salvation: With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God (Mark 10:27).


    If we keep on relying on our own works, our sins and failures will only give us sorrow. But like what my pastor said when he preached this last Sunday: "Obedience should be a natural response to God's goodness, not a way to earn His favor." We do good works as an overflow of the salvation we have received by Christ's finished work on the cross.



Now I'm leaving questions for us to answer honestly:


  • What is something we have been trusting more than God - career, morality, possessions, family?  
  • What active steps can we take to ensure that our trust and reliance are anchored in God rather than in temporary worldly things?