Matthew 19:16-26 This scripture records the dialogue between Jesus and the rich, young ruler who asked of Jesus, verse 16, “…Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Jesus instructed him to enter into life and keep the commandments, to which the young man replied that he had kept the commandments since his youth, but what was “he lacking” was his question to Jesus. God, the Omniscient One, sees clearly our lack, we do not. Under His all-seeing eye, He highlights our need of His guidance to “get rid of the garbage” in our lives that keeps us from intimacy with Him.
The rich, young ruler had the wrong perspective. He thought he had fulfilled all the commandments but the greatest commandment of all, Matthew 22:37-38 – “….Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment,” (also Deut. 6:5) – the young man had not fulfilled. He had not perceived that his love of his riches was greater than his love of God.
Psalm 24:1 declares “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein…” Everything belongs to the Lord, we are only stewards of what He has given us, and He teaches us how to be good stewards of His property. Does my stewardship of the Lord’s “property” bring glory to His name?
God’s perspective is so different to our natural one. John 9 records the event of Jesus healing the man blind from his birth. The disciples asked of Jesus who had sinned, the man or his parents, that he should have been born blind? Jesus answered them that the blindness was not a result of sin, “…but that the works of God should be manifest in him,” John 9:3. The disciples were focused on cause, but Jesus was focused on purpose, THAT GOD MIGHT BE GLORIFIED.
The Lord Jesus is ever beckoning us…”Rise up, my love, my fair one, come away….” Song of Solomon 2:10. He beckons us to come up higher with Him who is “seated in heavenly places” to see things from His perspective where the things of the earth seem so small and insignificant when compared to His omnipotence. Hebrews 1:3 speaking of Jesus, “….upholding all things by the word of His power.” We can rest in this truth that all that concerns us is safe in His hands. Let us press on towards our goal, focusing on God’s perspective of our lives, His divine purpose to bring glory to His great and wonderful name.
WE ARE PEOPLE OF HIS PURPOSE!
