Text: Mark 10:13-27
Jesus Christ was always accused of spending time with wrong people; tax collectors, sinners and this time, children (v. 13). However, Jesus told His disciples that the Kingdom of God belonged to people whose attitude is like that of children; no self-sufficiency, but total dependency on God. And for moral self-righteousness, to humble oneself before God. Children are never autonomous, they depend on another being for provisions, security and love.

The same should apply to an adult as he depends on God, for every detail of his life/her including, and especially, righteousness and holiness.
In the next encounter, Jesus Christ moves to confront a rich young ruler (v. 17). The young ruler is full of pride, and claims never to have broken any of the Commandments of God. This verbal exchange goes on until Jesus revealed to him, indirectly, that he had broken the First Commandment (v.21-22); the young ruler loved and worshiped money more than God.
For the young ruler to call Jesus “good” was knowingly or unknowingly recognizing that Jesus Christ is God (v. 18). The young ruler left sorrowful as he could not follow Jesus Christ because of his wealth (v. 22), despite his earlier confession that Jesus Christ was God (v. 8). At the time, the Persians had a metaphorical saying for “impossibility”; that it would be easier for an elephant to go through an eye of a needle. Thus, Jews adapted and adopted the saying using the largest animal in Palestine at the time, the Camel. In using
this colloquial language, Jesus Christ was saying that it is impossible to get salvation through human effort. Salvation is purely through the grace of God!
The disciples were shocked at the answer of Jesus Christ (v. 26) because at the time, wealth was still thought to be an advantage for one to be saved. To hear Jesus saying the opposite to the prevailing knowledge shocked the listeners, including His disciples. Today, many “Pastors” teach that good health and wealth are signs that you are saved or in fellowship with God. This is not necessarily true, neither is poverty a sign of right relationship with God (v. 21), as Jesus was indeed, exposing to the young ruler’s heart, in this text.

Meditate on verse 21. How are you going to apply it to your life?
Merciful Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I pray that You forgive me for situations in which I have allowed worldly cares, riches and pleasures of life to choke my spiritual fruitfulness, especially in not being fully committed in following You, due to entanglement in many other pursuits of life. I pray that You send Your Holy Spirit to help me set my priorities
right. Amen.

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