Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
“Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?” the man asked.
And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”
Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
I'm afraid that this young man is not the only one to walk away from Jesus thinking He asks too much. We have mentioned before that Kingdom life is a life of exchange. We give up everything -hopes, dreams, agendas, plans -everything, in order to attain something better: The Kingdom of God.
Let's look for a moment at the questions This guy asked -they tell us from the start that something is amiss. Unfortunately, they are the same questions we sometimes ask. "What must I do?" Ok, I've already done that. "What else must I do?" If Jesus had given him another easy task (read a chapter of Scripture a day; pray for at least 20 minutes every day; go to church or Bible study at least twice a week, etc.) he likely would have said, "Ok, I already do that too. What else must I do?" His entire focus was on doing something to earn salvation -doing something to impress God -or perhaps, doing something to appease God. He missed the point entirely.
God is not looking for us to do something. He is not so much interested in what we do as in who we are. Specifically, He is interested in who we are in Him. He wants us to be His -heart, soul, mind and strength. When we begin to grasp that, everything else falls into place. As Jesus said in another place: "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, and all of your strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all of the Law and the Prophets."
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