HOST: Ron House
SPONSOR: Start2Finish
And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
This teaching of Jesus is not about the evil of riches or worldly things. It is about the hearts of those who would follow after Jesus. He has just finished a conversation with the rich young ruler. You can almost picture that young man walking away with his head bowed down in sorrow as Jesus turns to His disciples and begins to use that occasion to teach them. In that day, the wealthy were considered to be blessed and favored by God. If they could not be saved, then who could? But Jesus’ words are not really about the rich at all, but about their (and our) attitude toward those things. Just as the rich young ruler’s wealth could not buy him salvation, our material things cannot acquire salvation for us. Because we depend on worldly things so much in this life to provide all that we need, it is easy for us to believe that our worldly things might somehow provide for our spiritual needs as well. We may and should do many good and commendable works with our physical things, but none of those things can earn salvation for us. Salvation is only found in a faithful relationship with God through Jesus Christ that puts Him first and above all else in our lives.
What should our attitudes be toward worldly things?
Don’t forget to pray and have a great day!