Mark 10:17-31 NLT
17As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” 20“Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 21Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. 25In fact, 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!” 26The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. 27Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” 28Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said 29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. 31But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.” —Mark 10:17-31 NLT

This story a different type of conversation we overhear with Jesus and this young ruler…

he comes running and kneeling asking in search of something…the bible tells he has everything but he still is searching for something more

This young man’s conversation with Jesus probably did not go the way he was expecting. The young man was good at keeping the laws and the commandments, but that wasn’t enough to get to heaven. “Jesus was filled with loving compassion for this man because his life was so empty. He had climbed to the top of the ladder of success, only to find his ladder leaned against the wrong building.

The one thing he lacks…eternal life…life with Christ…he has everything he thought he needed but didn’t have the one thing that could fulfill him the one thing that would sustain him the one thing he truly needed and that was Christ he was brought to a decision to buy into a worldly possession to fulfill or the real thing…the world will always try to offer a cheap counterfeit for something that had a price thats already been bought…through the blood of Jesus

He was brought to a moment of decision a moment each of us come to “God will I give up everything to follow you will I do everything you ask to make your name great…this ruler had a choice

He choose not to love God more than his wealth, even though Jesus specifically promised him treasure in heaven. The man was more interested in the earthly treasure of men than in God’s heavenly treasures. Wealth was his god instead of the true God of the Bible. He put money first”

>  28Trust in your money and down you go!

But the godly flourish like leaves in spring. —Proverbs 11:28

This reminds us that trusting in our own riches will not lead to life, in fact it almost guarantees our demise. Instead, we are to trust in God; then we will flourish. The green leaf, as mentioned in the verse, is green because it has all the resources it needs: the sun, the rain, and the nutrients of the soil. It depends on its creator for everything.

This young man understood his wealth. He likely had control over it and felt comfortable and at least a small sense of power. He was independent, not needing anyone’s help. Jesus asked him to walk away from it, and he couldn’t. A life following Jesus is unpredictable, humble, quiet, and even sometimes wild. It’s scary to give up what we know or that with which we are familiar.

Most of us have a line we won’t cross, whether we admit it or not. We applaud people when they decide to go on the mission field, yet we are secretly happy it isn’t our child (or even us) going. We are thankful God asks someone else to do the really hard stuff. We are okay with God asking us to give a portion of our money to him and perhaps even our stuff and our time. But what about our life? What about our reputation? What about the goals and dreams we have for adulthood? What about our child’s future?

Whats the one thing…

Closing

Back to the silent basketball
Love bouncing it
Love playing with it because its quiet
I love basketball

But the gift was never for me…it was always for Micah…

How can I expect Micah to grow in his talents In basketball with nothing to practice with in the house now…

But when you give to give the fake counterfit to Jesus he takes it and replaces it with something real…that then only then he can take and use to use your posessoions to glorify his name…those conversations to impact those around you…

This easter season Give…

Give it to Jesus…