“In the past,” Stan commented one morning, “we’ve talked a little bit about the man in the Bible known as the ‘rich young ruler.’ Do you remember that?”
“Somewhat,” I replied. “Isn’t he the guy who asked Jesus what he had to do to obtain eternal life, and when Jesus told him to sell everything, give to the poor, and follow Him, he wouldn’t do that and went away never to be heard from again?”
“That’s him!” Stan replied. “He decided that he liked his stuff more than he liked Jesus.”
“I was looking at his story again the other day,” Stan continued, “and I saw something that could have ended the whole story real quickly with a vastly different result.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Let’s take a look,” Stan said. “At the beginning of the story, Matthew says that the man came to Jesus and said, ‘Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?’”
“What about it?” I asked.
“Just think,” Stan responded, “if at that point Jesus would have said something like, ‘Rather than any good thing, the best thing you can do to obtain eternal life is to believe in Me.’ It seems to me that could have settled it.”
“The young man’s choice would have been between believing in Jesus or not believing in Him,” I replied. “Is that it?”
“That’s it,” Stan replied. “And it’s the same for each one of us, whether or not we’re young, rich, or a ruler. The good and the best thing is to believe in Jesus!”
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Bible verses to consider:
And behold, one came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” Matthew 19:16.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16.
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him form the dead, you shall be saved. Romans 10:9.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your provision of life eternally with you for all who believe. Thank you for the people you brought into my life to tell me the truth so I could believe. I confess that too often I do not present to others the truth of the gospel so they will have the opportunity to believe and accept your free and gracious provision. Please help me to follow your lead so I do, in fact, present the truth of the gospel to each person you bring into my life. Thank you that I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Have you accepted God’s provision of life eternally with Him? If no, why do you want to remain separated from Him? If you are a Christian with the assurance of salvation and redemption, how are you doing with telling others the truth of the gospel so they have the opportunity to accept it and be saved? If you sense the need for change in any of this, how is that change going to happen? Is that what you want? Why or why not?