by Joyce Meyer posted July 30, 2012

Teacher, [You are essentially and perfectly morally] good, what must I do to inherit eternal life [that is, to partake of eternal salvation]? — Mark 10:17

In today’s Scripture a young man asked Jesus the question above and Jesus responded: “You know the commandments: Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother” (Mark 10:19).

The man replied to Jesus that he had obeyed all the commandments, for as long as he could remember. What happened next is extremely important: “And Jesus, looking upon him, loved him . . .” (Mark 10:21, emphasis mine).

Jesus is about to give this man an instruction because He loved him: ”You lack one thing; go and sell all you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come [and] accompany Me.”

Many people do not like this verse because they do not understand the heart of love behind it. They wonder, “Does God want to make us sell everything we have and give the proceeds to the poor in order to serve Him?” He would only ask us to do that if what we had was standing in the way of our being obedient to God. The point of this parable is that we should love Jesus first. We must love Him more than we love our “stuff,” which was not the case with the man in the story.

If you have a job that keeps you from serving God, find another job. If you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend who doesn’t want you to love God first, find someone else. If you really want a deeper walk with God, you may have to sacrifice some things that are keeping you from it.

Love God Today: Is anything standing between you and God? Make the situation right today.

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2011 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.