Paraphrase to Mark 10: 17 - 22
17 As I started my morning with devotions, I sat down at my desk, opened my Bible, and prayed “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’
20 “Teacher,” I replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
21 As He looked down from Heaven at me, I felt His genuine love for me. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” He told me. “Let go of all your control issues, your selfishness, your fears, your idol of food and let me lead your life, and you will have treasures in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this my face fell, and I closed my Bible and cried, for I have such a hard time letting go of control and my own desires.
In the past as I read or heard the story of the rich young man, I always thought of it as material possessions and those kinds of things. And yes, that might be what Jesus was speaking about in this parable. But as we know parables are teaching moments and today this passage had nothing to do with things and stuff, but all to do with my behaviors, attitudes, issues and what holding me back from living my life to the fullest. Jesus’ desire is for us to follow Him, to let Him lead, to love on us. As it says in verse 29 – 31 “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, 30 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. 31 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”
Jesus has plans to give us eternal life, to make us great, to reward us with so many blessings, they can’t be measured. That is what is on God’s heart. He is asking us one simple thing “come, follow me.” Give up all the strongholds of fear and failure and trust HIM, put all my faith in Him, as it says in Luke 17:6 “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!
God is not asking that I have to have faith that is all mighty, He just wants my simple small mustard seed size faith, He just wants me to let go of control and self and rest in HIM, claim HIM and FOLLOW HIM and watch and see what marvelous things HE will do.
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