Possessions and Wealth are a Hindrance

Mark 10:23-31

Jesus tells us that possessions and wealth are a hindrance to entering the kingdom of God.  He was not talking about performance, but the difference between extreme difficulty and the disadvantage of possessions, when He told his disciples how hard it was for a rich young man to give up all and follow Him.

As we stated yesterday, it is ownership that gets one in trouble, to believe in luck and not blessing, it’s greed, and it fosters the want for more, just a little more.  It is thinking that you’re a self-made man and not a man who has been blessed with wealth from God.  But the sad news is it is common to man, and it requires understanding to know that possessions can be a curse and not a blessing unless you become the manager and not the owner.  I’ve been both at times in my life, and I found no joy in being the owner, but great joy in managing what God has entrusted to me.

Shall we not assume that anything is more significant than receiving the grace of God through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross, in bringing all who will enter into a personal relationship with Christ.  However many of us have allowed the blessing of the Lord in both family and wealth to take away our zeal to take up our calling or mission that only we have been assigned and follow Him.

Peter addressed this with Jesus in verse 28, “See we have left everything and followed you and in the following verses we have Jesus’ response.  ^“Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice