“Jesus said again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God’” (Mark 10:24b).
“How hard it is to ender the Kingdom of God…”
That’s what Jesus said. And, he meant it. We don’t normally think of it this way. We tend to think that following Jesus and entering the Kingdom of God is the most reasonable thing for us to do.
The context for this passage is Jesus’ encounter with a rich young ruler. The rich young ruler runs up to Jesus and falls on his knees before him and asks Jesus what he has to do to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus responds to his question by telling him to keep the commandments – referring to the Ten Commandments. To which the young man responds, surprisingly, that he has faithfully kept all of God’s commands.
Wow! That’s some confidence!
What is surprising, is that the gospel writer tells us that Jesus is in agreement with the rich young ruler. We are told, “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21).
Wow! That’s impressive!
Then, Jesus tells him the one thing that’s keeping this young man from the kingdom of heaven – “One thing you lack. Go and sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21).
This young man had kept all the commandments of God. This man had lived his life right. This man was an upstanding man.
But, one thing he lacked.
For him, it was his money and wealth. The point is not necessarily about money and wealth. The question is what is the one thing which you treasure even more than Jesus? What is the one thing that remains unsurrendered to Jesus. It is what you treasure, what remains unsurrendered to Jesus that impedes your spiritual growth and maturity.
It is that which we treasure more than Jesus, the thing that remains unsurrendered to Jesus that is an impedance to our spiritual growth and maturity.
What is the one thing you lack? What do you treasure more than Jesus?
“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.”
Praxis: Faith in Action 