Luke 18:18-30
“And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to
inherit eternal life?”
(Luke 18:18 ESV) That
is a great question and it is a question one would only ask of someone who
might have the answer. Now one who asked
such a question has to believe in life after death, a life that has no end, and
one that the worms eating away at the flesh have no control over. A person who would ask such a question is one
who has looked in the mirror and understood that what is seen is not what is,
but it houses the real you, the soul, and it can not be seen with human eyes,
it’s your will, your emotions, and your mind, not your brain, the brain is a
organ like the liver, it can be seen and worked on by a surgeon. So your earthsuit is heading for the dirt,
but the spirit, your soul has eternity, and the question asked by the ruler is;
Jesus, how can I make sure it is in heaven with God and not in eternal
darkness, where Jesus says in Mark 9:48, “where their worm
does not die and the fire is not quenched.”
Now I’m very much aware that many who are controlled by the
enemy of our soul has put a spin on hell and many of you have preferred it to
what Jesus states in Scripture, but folks we are talking about something more
than where your going on vacation, we are discussing heaven or hell, it’s worth
you pondering on.
In my life I’ve been
in a few bars and it was not a question that ever came up in conversation, but
this ruler asks the question in a very public setting. And this was Jesus’ reply: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not
steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All
these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this,
he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and
distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow
me.” But when he heard these things, he
became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become
sad, said,
“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For
it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:19-25 ESV)
If only this rich ruler had been a student of the Psalms, he
would have understood these words of King David in Psalm 39:5-7, “You,
indeed, have made my days short in length, and
my life span as nothing in Your sight.
Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor. “Certainly, man walks about like a mere
shadow. Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain, gathering possessions without knowing who will get them. Now, Lord, what do I wait
for? My hope is in You.”
If you are one who has not made plans for
eternity today is a great day to do that. Do you recall Jesus’ words to His
disciples about how one must come to Him, like a child, with the faith of a
child, you can ask God the Father today to give you this kind of faith and He
will. These are the words of Jesus, who
tells the truth 100% of the time: “Truly, I say to
you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter
it.” (Luke 18:17) As you
read through these verses you will see Peter saying; “See, we have left our homes and followed you”
and look at Jesus’ reply, but remember it was not the leaving or the
following for before any of this, it was a childlike faith that drew them to
Jesus.
I must remind you that the Creators’ ways
are beyond our understanding, if you have any doubt, look at 1 Corinthians
1:27-29 or Isaiah 55:6-9. I believe this
word from the author of “Man in the Mirror” Pat Morley is a good way to end
this writing: “When possessions and money become a
surrogate for our real identity, who we are is tied to things that rust and rot
away.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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