A wealthy ruler came to Jesus with a decent question. He asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The Lord pointed him to the commandments. That seems appropriate enough. Who wouldn't tell you to remember what God has commanded? Confidently, the man assured Jesus he had followed God's commands since his youth.
But Jesus didn't stop where most teachers might have. It's good that the rich ruler remembered the commandments. Then came the hard part: “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
You can almost see his smile disappear in that moment. Luke tells us the very rich man walked away sad. He did because his wealth meant more to him than the invitation to follow Jesus.
Now, you and I hear this story and we might want to excuse ourselves. We think, "I don’t have that kind of wealth, so it doesn’t apply to me.” It's been highly noted that Jesus talked a lot about money. In reality, though, Jesus’ words aren’t solely about money. They're about whatever we hold tighter than him. For this man, it was possessions. For us, it might be success, control, reputation, security or even our idea of how life should be. 
Jesus isn’t asking us to give up joy or abundance. He’s asking us to trust that following him leads to a greater treasure. The disciples wondered who could be saved if the requirements were so high. And here's the good news. We cannot do enough to inherit eternal life. But God can. God can change our hearts. God can loosen our grip. God can give us the courage to let go of lesser things so we can hold on to Christ.
The question for us is: What could turn our joy in following Jesus into hesitation or sorrow?
Stay blessed...john | 
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