Riches

Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”                                                                                                                   Luke 18.24

The young man in question was very wealthy, or so we are told! I do not think his wealth was a problem per se, rather the problem was the difficulty he faced in letting go of his wealth. It seems that his riches were so important to him that he couldn’t countenance giving them up in order to put God first. And he might not have needed to relinquish everything if he had only been able to give priority to God.

His difficulty was with “riches”, things that, presumably, gave him financial security. Other people struggle with other forms of “wealth” – power, prestige, health, family, profession, acceptance by others, and such things. All these have the potential to overshadow and affect our relationship with God.

What I hear Jesus really say in this passage is that I must put God first. I must allow nothing to take priority over the things of God in and for my life. My devotion is to be to Him. Other things may form part of my life but my prime focus is Him. He created me and He is my reason for living.

As I travel through life, and give myself to journey more closely with Him, I find that other forms of wealth hold little appeal for me. I want to be rich in God, in Father, Son and Spirit. He is there for me. How can I not embrace Him with the fullness of my being?

Mighty God and Precious Saviour,

I open myself fully to You. I surrender into Your keeping and receive You in the place of priority in my life. I look to You and ask You to lead me forward into whatever You would have me be and do. I thank You that You care for me. Hallelujah!                      Amen.