Thursday, January 29

THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015

Exodus 8:1–9:35

Matthew 19:13–30

Psalm 24:1–10

Proverbs 6:1–5

 

 

In Matthew 19:16–30, Jesus encountered the rich young ruler.  This gentleman wished to justify himself before God and asked a valuable question:  “Teach, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”  While his question focused on works rather than faith, bystanders to this conversation might have really benefited from the response.

 

Instead of making a general response, Jesus pierced through the fluff to the crucial point:  the heart-orientation of this individual.  After fielding an inquiry about his adherence to the commandments, the young man still desired the linchpin of justification.  He sensed that he still lacked something.  Jesus issues a personal call:  “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me.” (19:21)  We then read:  “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” (19:22)

 

From this interaction, we may glean that this young man valued his possessions and the status associated with them more than a relationship with God, described here as “treasure in heaven.”  He did not wish to delay the gratification of wealth in this life to experience true wealth for eternity.  He had traded eternal abundance for temporal satisfaction.

 

While we may not have as much to sacrifice as this rich young ruler, we are called to yield the throne of our lives to God Himself.  The rich young ruler suffered from idolatry, that tendency of the human heart to place created things about the Creator.  We may struggle with idolatry related to material possessions, accolades or “success,” or even human relationships.  Idolatry offers a false promise:  “This concern of yours will bring you ultimate satisfaction.”  Experience later indicates, however, that idolatry only leads to long-term emptiness and frustration.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:10 explains:  “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”  In other words, each of us experiences eternal longings, but we have no means of understanding or satisfying them outside of a relationship with God.  As a case in point, please recall that alcoholic beverages sometimes receive the name “spirits.”  This designation comes from the Greeks, who believed that drinking alcohol would allow someone to enter a spiritual experience.  Remember that, upon the coming of the Holy Spirit, the apostles faced accusations of being drunk.  The people gathered in Jerusalem confused the filling of the Holy Spirit with an overwhelming amount of spirits.

 

I try to take a spiritual inventory on a weekly basis or so, reflecting on this question:  “Have I exalted God to the highest place in my life?  How about today?  This week?”  We all recognize that Jesus’s call to “come and die” (to self) doesn’t come naturally.  In fact, we may spend years running away from this difficult proposal.  Yet, this call to die also represents a call to live completely for God’s purposes:  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)  As Romans 6 explains, we were previously slaves to sin, but, through trusting in the death of Christ and so dying with Him, we may become slaves to God and righteousness, “the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” (6:22b)

 

Practically speaking, what does it mean to die to self today?  This process involves identifying and laying aside those things that might distract us from God’s purposes.  In the case of this rich young ruler, his wealth had become too important to give up.  Dying to these non-Kingdom purposes will involve some mourning and struggle, but this “sweeping clean” is necessary to make way for Kingdom focus.   Romans 12:1,2 explains that we should offer ourselves as “living sacrifices.”  This metaphor captures this idea of transferring the motivation of seeking our own glory for seeking God’s glory.  Should we have our motivation on honoring and serving God, the other issues of life will fall into order according to His purposes:  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

 

 

Lord Jesus, help us to see those created things that are distracting us from Your purposes today.  Give us grace as we lay aside these idols, so that we may be completely focused on loving and serving You.  Strengthen our hearts by Your Holy Spirit and give us an abundance of Your compassion and heart for others.  We give You praise for this new day, and we commit ourselves to You today.  Use us to bring forth a harvest of righteousness.  In Your Name, amen.

 

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