Relationships are not easy

Mark 10:17-22

Earlier in the writing of Mark’s gospel, we addressed this question when Jesus asks the crowd and His disciples.  “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?  For what can a man give in return for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”  (Mark 8:36-38)

Life on planet earth is short, and the Bible compares it to a vapor or mist, it is here for a short time and then vanishes.  So if one was to have the goal of gaining the whole world, and yet by doing so forfeits their soul to eternal separation from God and His heaven and spends eternity in a place not prepared for them, but for the devil and his angels, for what a vapor life?  Could it be such a person is a fool or ignorant of what his or her decision will cost?

We have this account in Scripture of a young man running up to Jesus with a question we all should want the answer to.  He is wise in that He is asking the Creator the question; “what must I do to inherit eternal life”?  First, Jesus wanted the young man to understand that He was addressing God in the flesh.  For Jesus told him no one is good but God.  Then Jesus told him “you know the commandments: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.”  The young man said, I have all that covered, but the showstopper was giving all that you have to the poor and come follow me.  And it is reported the young man was very wealthy and loved his stuff more than he loved God, disheartened he left Jesus for his stuff.

Relationships are not easy, yet Jesus calls all who have entered into a relationship with Him his friends.  Today we kick that word around like love, and many are foolish to believe they have many friends.  But friendships require action, effort, time and come at a price, and it is my belief we have very few friends at any given time in this vapor life.  One of the big blessings in this life is having resources to live on in comfort and be able to help others when the Lord tells you to.  The problems come when your stuff makes you proud and arrogant and selfish, and you only want more.  It can be a blessing or a curse; it comes down to; are you a manager of what has been given you or have you become the owner?  This young man had become the owner, and yet in hindsight the stuff owned him, and it isolated him from God’s blessing of fellowship.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice