Mark 10:23-31 (NLT)
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.
“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”
My knee-jerk reaction to conversations about money always goes something like this: “I’m a public school teacher in the state of Mississippi. I don’t know what money looks like nor do I think I’ll see any in the foreseeable future.”
While this is a joke (sort of), when I read Scriptures like this and actually pull my selfish head from the ground, I see how great we really have it. I’m so willing to write myself off as poor because of my bank statement and the fact we live in the Mississippi Delta that in reality, we live better than most of the rest of the world. To prove this, consider these staggering stats compiled by Majorie “Mae” Jones in her booklet If. She writes, “If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, or spare change in a dish some place, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy… If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on you back, a roof overhead, and a permanent place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world.” …And on it goes.
Now that we’ve established we’re all “rich,” let’s return back to the passage. We- as newfound rich people- have no chance of entering GOD’s kingdom without allowing GOD to work in us. Allow me to repeat: we have no chance without GOD! We can’t buy it, throw enough money in a basket, serve in enough ministries, stir up enough emotions, or toss it in a spiritual microwave to retrieve it a radiated minute later. Again, these are good things. But it's not what we do that gets us into GOD’s kingdom; it's who we know and, more importantly, Who knows us. We must choose knowing him fully over doing things for him or following a list of rules as the man did here.
So what’s in it for those of us willing to give up everything to follow Christ? I’m glad you ask. Jesus reinforced GOD’s uncanny principle of giving it back…plus some. Your time, talents, family, and other things will be blessed in this life…plus- and this is the best part- , you’ll get “the bonus of eternal life (verse 31, The Message). The Great Reversal strikes again! We who give up our lives (and the things that dominate them) will find real life through Jesus Christ. Make no mistake, we all at Refuge are rich. And since its harder for the rich to enter the Kingdom of GOD, may we seek him all the more.
Application: Sell all you have and give it to the poor… just kidding (sort of). Practice the Great Reversal in at least three situations today.
