Mark 10

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth." And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:17-22)

This is another story I'm familiar with. I've heard it taught a few different times, and pretty much, the teachings are all similar. I guess I don't have anything earth-shaking to add to what I've heard before, but there were some small things I noticed, that pricked at my heart, as I was studying this account. I just want to highlight the points that stood out to me as I went through this.

1) a man ran up and knelt before Him...Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful...

How familiar is this scene? Isn't it what we've played out countless times in our own lives? No? At first I didn't think so. I didn't really relate to this guy. But I read it last night again, sitting in a worship & prayer service at church, and I realized how common this man's behavior is. He did what we do:

• He ran up to Jesus and he knelt before Him - just as we run to the alter or cry out in prayer;
• He wanted to know what was required of him to get into heaven - he asked about eternity...clearly it was on his mind...it was of interest to him. Don't we do the same? 'Jesus what do you want from my life? What can I do for You?...'
• Then Jesus spoke to him. Apparently, what was said seemed too hard; maybe he wasn't quite ready to take the step that was asked of him; maybe he was afraid to do what Jesus was asking... Whatever the reason, the man did not do what Jesus had asked of him, and he went away. This is where I initially deviated from being able to relate to this guy, but now I get the fact that we are not so different - I am not so different. Sometimes when I ask those kinds of questions, I like what I hear - it's encouraging or exciting. Other times, though, when I ask, He brings correction or asks something of me that goes above and beyond what I was expecting. And I go away. I don't walk away from Him completely, like the man in Mark did, but I finish my prayer time and I go on about my life. And when the thing He has spoken to me is hard, sometimes I struggle to comply, or I find myself compromising or making deals and bargains. Well, He's not asking me to bargain. He's asking me to obey. And neither good intention nor partial compliance counts for obedience. No matter how many times I ask the question, His answer does not change. It is simply a matter of whether or not I am willing to comply. For that, I am no different than the man in Mark.

2) And Jesus, looking at him, loved him...

I know this doesn't seem like much, and honestly, at first, I skimmed right over it when I read it. But the second or third pass through, this grabbed a hold of me and gripped me. Simply that Jesus knew this man's heart; knew the decision he would make; and He LOVED him. I love the fact that the author felt it was important enough to insert that bit of information, where it could have easily been omitted. It means that, without 'He loved him' we don't get the full picture. Otherwise, it wouldn't be there. However, it is important that we know it, so it was intentionally included. A subtle thing, but one of those things in Scripture that I absolutely love. Worth thinking on for a few minutes.

3) You lack one thing...

Look at the commandments Jesus listed. He listed EVERY SINGLE commandment that addresses how we are to deal with others. And, according to this man, he had kept every one of these commandments. He was, by the world's account, 'A good man' - the sort of person we assume will get into heaven for sure. Don't we all know those kind of people - the ones who are generous and compassionate; they volunteer at the soup kitchen, and they donate to every good cause under the sun; they never say a cross word to anyone; they give the shirt off their back for a friend or a neighbor. You know, 'good people.'

But Jesus says this man is lacking one thing that is crucial in determining a person's eternity in heaven. So what is it? Is it that he has too much money? Too much stuff? No, I don't believe that's it. I think it has to do with all of the commandments that were NOT listed - every commandment that addresses our relationship with God - with putting Him first, and center, and most important. What the young man was missing was a heart that put God above all things. He wanted to get into heaven. He had done every good thing in his earthly ability. But Jesus was not the most important to him. Apparently, for this particular man, the thing that held the highest regard in his heart was his wealth, which is why Jesus challenged him to lay it down.

At the moment this man walked away, he had made the choice to value his worldly possessions above Jesus. And he walked away sad because he recognized that, although he wanted to go to heaven, he was not willing to do what was necessary to get there.

That's a pretty heavy realization to come to, and one that I am continually evaluating in my own life. Is He really my center, my focus, my most important? Does my life demonstrate that by the way I am living? Is He getting my time? My attention? Am I relying on Him or myself? How much am I including Him in my every-day life? Is He the first thing I think of, or is He an afterthought in my down-time or at the end of the day? Because if He is not my most important, then something else is. If there is something that I am not willing to give up in order to spend eternity with Him, then I am in the same position as this young man in Mark. And, according to the Word of God, as long as I stay in that position, I can be assured that I will not be spending eternity with Him.

I think this story can be summed up quite simply: I can't be good enough on my own. In exchange for eternal life in heaven, He wants to be my One True God, and He asks that I love Him MOST, having nothing in my life that is more important to me than Him. Then my love for Him is demonstrated by my obedience, and by the way I live and show love to others.

I'm really glad He did that

The kids and I have been reading the Narnia books at bedtime and nap time, as we get the chance. Today, I read to them a bit for a resting sort of down time, and I have to say that it affected me more than I ever expected it could.

I read to them the part where the witch demands Edmund's life, because he was a traitor...
where Aslan, unbeknown to any of the others, commits to give his own blood, his own life, in exchange for Edmund's... where Aslan walks slowly to the table to offer himself in exchange for the boy's... where the girls walk alongside him, and he asks them to hold onto him, just to know they are there... when he submits to the hand of his enemies, willingly, without resistance or retaliation, and he is humiliated, and tortured and devalued and mistreated. And all the while, my heart swelled with grief, knowing that Jesus endured His own, much worse, much more real version of this; knowing that I am Edmund - I am the traitor, the sinner, the imperfect one; that it's my life that has been demanded because of my sins, and it was His life that He gave in exchange for my own. And I felt just a glimpse of the sorrow, the loneliness, the hurt, and the heaviness that He must have felt. And tears welled in my eyes, and I had to stop reading for a moment, because I know He endured that for me.

And I could relate to the girls in the book who wanted so badly to reach out and grab a hold of him, and who were so relieved to finally be able to touch him and run their hands through his mane. And I imagined the indignation they felt as they watched him endure all that he endured; as they watched him give his life.

And I felt triumphant as the Queen laughed and gloated, knowing that she had no idea whom she was really dealing with; that her triumph and victory would be wholly temporary. And I filled with praise for my God, Who seemingly gave Himself up to death, yet in it all was victorious over his enemy and over death itself. What a glorious moment it must have been when Satan realized his defeat after all! And I felt a fresh surge of victory, knowing that the enemy of my soul has been defeated, and his reign in our own Narnia will soon come to an end - his winter will melt away, and a new world, a fresh world, filled with the love and the goodness of God will take its place.

We've gotten most of the way through the second book so far, and until today, I've never explained to my children that this is an allegorical story. I've never told them that Aslan represents Jesus, or any of that. But today, mid-chapter, I stopped reading, and felt so entirely compelled to explain this all to them. I told them Aslan was like Jesus; the witch like the devil; Edmund like each of us... I explained that the Bible says that when we sin - when we lie, or feel hatred toward someone, or disobey our parents, or say a nasty thing, or take something that's not ours, or want something that someone else has - the payment for that is our lives. But Jesus chose to give His life, His blood, in place of ours. His blood and His life has already paid for every mistake we have every, or will ever make. We just need to thank Him for doing that, and live our lives in a way that is always telling Him thank you for what He did for us.

As I spoke, Sebastian listened intently... He listened as I talked about the cost of sin in our lives. He said at one point, "I was really worried until you said that Jesus already did that for us. I'm really glad He did that." While I recognize that this is a gross understatement, all I can say to that is "Me too."