Growing up in church, I used to think that the story about the rich man in Luke 10 was about money. After all, Jesus told the man that he needed to sell his stuff and give his money to the poor if he wanted to inherit eternal life. But I have come to discover that the story is really about the heart. The rich man's real problem was that he lacked faith to trust God and a broken spirit to accept God's grace instead of his own righteous works. Money was only the outward sign of a much deeper inner problem.
I used to also think that the man was probably proud and came to Jesus to show off his good works. But I don't know about that any more. The man ran up to Jesus, kneeled before him and seemed to earnestly ask his question about the key to life. It's as if the man had tried everything he knew how to do and still felt that he was missing something.
The rich, young man was right. He indeed needed to do something else. He needed to truly let God consume him. You see, God is not just looking for people who don't do bad stuff. He wants us to do the good stuff to be His hands and feet. He wants us to actively help reclaim that which the enemy has tried to destroy.
But doing good works is not enough. It means nothing if it is done outside of Christ's work on the cross. Many people do good works that will get them nowhere in the end. Good works must flow out of God's grace and power. The young man tried to be holy on his own. But it didn't work. When people ask why we have hope in eternal life, God wants His children to point to Jesus.
Jesus was not angry with the man. He loved him and told him the truth. Jesus called the man to deal with the real issue keeping him from being free - reliance on wealth. Jesus called the man to die to his own desires and follow Him. But the rich man went away sad because he chose to keep what he had.
What is that one thing lacking in my life? What about that one thing in your life? We all have to deal with idols and let God do frequent spring cleaning in our personal priorities. Just because you generally approach God with good intentions doesn't mean that you will get anywhere if you refuse to fully trust God and yield to His power and grace. The rich, young man was probably a good guy by most people's standards. And what Jesus asked probably didn't seem very reasonable. But it was the answer to the question that he asked.
