The Inheritance

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       Today as I read the passage in Mark 10 about the rich young ruler, I was captured by the question he asked Jesus: “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (vs. 17, NASB). Usually I get caught by Jesus’ response to the young man’s question—that only God is good, not man—but today the part of the passage that caught my attention was the verb inherit. The notion that struck me was that most inheritances usually involve the death of a parent before any goods are distributed among the children. I can just picture the rich young ruler with his wealth that he possibly inherited not long before encountering Jesus. Jesus didn’t look at him and tell him to leave his father and mother as he told others, maybe because they were already dead or maybe because they were not the part of his heart that was holding out. Then again, like many of us who are given too much without much or any cost to ourselves, he might have wondered how to “inherit” eternal life to add to his other treasure. Before really answering this young man’s question about how to get eternal life, verse 21 tells us that Jesus examined this man and loved him. Jesus can easily see what holds our hearts captive, and He quickly sees that this man’s idol is his earthly treasure. As a result, Jesus’ answer to the man involves letting go of the things that have him bound (vs. 21). Some of the saddest words I’ve ever read in the Bible are found in verse 22 after Jesus tells the young man to sell all he owns and follow Him: “But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.” This young man’s heart and hands were too full of temporal stuff to grasp hold of the eternal that he sought. God gifts us with the faith that leads to salvation, and Jesus’ death makes provision for us to inherit eternal life, but even though these gifts are free, letting go of our treasures can seem costly. We have a choice; we can die to ourselves or die to the possibilities of eternal life. I know which inheritance I want: the eternal one that the rich young ruler walked away from.

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