Rich Young Luck Guy?

Matthew 10: 17 - 22  And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up to him and knelt before him and asked him, Good teacher,what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, "Why do call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments,'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your mother and father.'" And he said," Rabbi, all these things I have kept since my youth." And Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said to him,"You lack one thing, Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me." Disheartened , he walked away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Well, I am going to go out on a limb on this blog. Bear with me, I have kind of a crazy idea about this passage. I know there may be flaws in my thinking but lets give it a roll. I propose that this rich young ruler was one of the luckiest guys. Think about it. He had an audience with the Savior - that in itself was quite remarkable. Matthew states that Jesus loved him when he asnwered his question. I believe that this young man was very sincere in asking God - what must I do to inherit eternal life? He, like me, could recite what  he had done right in life but he was ready to hear - what else can he could do. Jesus looked him right in the eye and told him - " Sell all you have and follow me". What would I do if I could talk to Jesus in the flesh and ask "what do I need to change about my life to follow you more closely?" There would be no excuses at that time.  The rich young ruler knew his excuses wouldn't cut it. He just turned away. I know people will say - well, you have the Bible, it says right there what a Christian needs to do to follow Christ. Yes, I can read but to have Jesus tell me face to face - what he knew I, in particular, need to hear. Powerful. I would be undone, I would have no excuse. 

We don't know what happened to the rich young ruler. He may have gone home and lived out his life exactly as he always had. Or this could have been just the beginning for him for a lifetime of obedience and joyful service. But he was one lucky guy to have had that moment in time when it was all layed on the line - this is it. Jesus has high expectations. He expects us to give our all. He expected the man to follow the commandments and so much more. Is Jesus calling you to give up something that is dragging you away from HIm? If he was looking you right in the eye and asked something of you - what would your response be.