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March 16 – Mark 10:17-31

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ~ Jesus in Matthew 6:21 (NIV)


When Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15), He was referring to the state of our hearts, which harden as we age. But our hearts have another problem, which Jesus addresses immediately after He blesses the children. As He is leaving that place, a rich young man approaches Him and asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 17)



Jesus responds to the man by recounting God’s law, which the man insists he has kept. The man’s eagerness to gain eternal life, his willingness to keep God’s law, and the earnestness of his question touch Jesus’ heart. Mark tells us that Jesus “looked at him and loved him” (v. 21). And because Jesus loved the man—and because He loves us—He wants to remove all obstacles between people and God. The obstacle for this man was his wealth. So, Jesus said, “One thing you lack…Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me” (v. 21).


As eager as the man was to “inherit eternal life,” he was not this eager. “He went away sad” (v. 22) because he was rich and did not want to give up his wealth. His sadness should have been a clue to the fact that he was making a poor decision based on an unhealthy attachment. His heart had been captured by his wealth, so he could not fully give it to Christ and His Kingdom. This is why Jesus then tells His disciples that it is hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. Their hearts are often divided because earthly treasure is enticing, and as long as they focus on amassing more or keeping what they have, it is difficult to also focus on living a God-centered, generous Kingdom life. Their heart’s treasure can’t be in two places at once.


As part of that heart surgery God does to soften our hearts and make them childlike (see yesterday’s commentary), He also detaches our hearts from earthly things and attaches them to Him. The more we draw near to Him, seeking Him and His Kingdom, the more our hearts will leave the things of this world behind, just as the disciples left everything to follow Jesus. As we do this, we will discover eternal rewards and blessings (along with persecutions, Jesus tells us—v. 30), and we will discover it will all be worth it in the end. But we cannot do this by ourselves. God is the heart surgeon. We offer ourselves up to Him. We accept Christ and cooperate with His Spirit’s work in us because “with man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (v. 27).


Draw near to the Lord today and ask Him to show you where your treasure is. Is there something you would find difficult to give up if He asked you to? Don’t worry if you feel drawn to earthly blessings. We serve a Savior who knows our weaknesses and looks on us and loves us anyway. He wants to help you—to do a work in your heart, softening it and detaching it from earthly things so that you can be free to fully embrace Him and enter His Kingdom with joy! Share your heart with Him about this today and worship Him as you contemplate His great love for you.

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donbrewer1
Mar 17, 2021

I worry at times that TV has captured our hearts and minds with News and soap opera style life / living emotionally thru characters acting out life & living in a make believe world. Somehow Someway one needs to read more Bible scripture and listen to God's plan (will). Your website and daily posts help our hearts return to our creator for life and loving real life, reality, in God's gift to us "life" we can spend with free will, and our heart for our fellow man and woman we have in the earthly kingdom on earth. Thanks for your reading and commentary. Dad

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vworrell50
Mar 16, 2021

I like Engene Peterson's commentary on this portion of Scripture:

Do you know what the key sentence is in this story? It's this: "Jesus looked him hard in the eye -- and loved him!" (Mark 10:21 MSG). This is the key sentence in every story, when you think about it. . . What we're told here is that Jesus saw into the very heart of this man and decided to do what was needed to make him whole. He offered to extricate him from the clutching tentacles of sin that were strangling his life. He offered to rescue him from the wasteland of self-righteousness that was impoverishing him and to make it possible for him to receive God's love and…


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My name is Melissa Anderson. I'm a spiritual director and ordained pastor who loves God, people, and words. You can read more about me by clicking the button below.

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