Good morning. Today is Friday, August 21st!

🥳 Congratulations on starting today with God, and thank you for letting us be a part of it.

— Mark 10:25

A wealthy man came running to Jesus wanting to know what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus spoke with him about the commandments, and the man said he had kept them since he was young.

Then Mark gives us an important detail:

“Jesus looked at him and loved him.” — Mark 10:21

Jesus knew who He was dealing with. He knew this man’s heart, and He knew exactly where the conversation was going.

So Jesus told him to sell what he had, give to the poor, and then “come, follow me.”

Notice what Jesus did not say. He didn’t tell the man, “You’re rich, so you cannot enter heaven.” He invited him to follow.

But the invitation came with a command that went straight to the thing this particular man couldn’t let go of.

And the man walked away sad because he had great wealth.

Only then does Jesus turn to His disciples and say:

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” — Mark 10:25

Now the metaphor has a story attached to it.

Jesus had just shown them what He was talking about.

The camel and the needle is an intentionally extreme picture. Jesus isn’t teaching that possessing wealth automatically disqualifies someone from salvation. Scripture gives us wealthy people who belonged to God. Job was enormously wealthy and called “blameless and upright.” Abraham was “very wealthy.” Joseph of Arimathea was specifically described as both rich and a disciple of Jesus.

The danger is what riches can become to someone.

This man stood in front of Jesus wanting eternal life. Jesus offered him treasure in heaven and personally invited him to follow. Yet when following Jesus required surrendering his earthly treasure, he chose the treasure.

That’s what Jesus’ metaphor makes so vivid.

Wealth can become so valuable to someone that even when confronted with something infinitely greater, they still struggle to let it go. That’s why Scripture warns not that money itself is evil, but that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

And Jesus doesn’t leave rich people without hope. Two verses later He says:

“With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

The man’s riches didn’t prevent Jesus from inviting him.

They prevented the man from accepting the invitation.

When you’re not sure how to pray, A.C.T.S. gives you a simple path to follow: Adore, Confess, Thank, and Ask.

Adoration: Father, You are worth more than anything this world can offer.

Confession: Forgive us when we hold onto things more tightly than we hold onto You.

Thanksgiving: Thank You for offering us eternal life through Jesus.

Supplication: Help us put You above everything else.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

“SANCTUS REAL” by Sanctus Real

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See you tomorrow,

Zach | Start With God