Luke 18-B “Where Is Our Trust?”

S = 18:24-27 “Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For 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.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

 

O = Wealth, in general, seems to be a hindrance rather than a blessing in regards to entering the kingdom of God. Why is this? I can think of three reasons off the top of my head:

1. Trust—we trust in our own resources that we can see rather than in God. To enter the kingdom, we need to have faith in the Lord’s effective work on our behalf.
2. Love—when we are wealthy we can come to love our possessions more than we love God. Jesus has already made it clear in Luke that we cannot serve to masters. Here we see the rich young ruler going away sad (v.23) but we don’t know what he will do. Will he part with his possessions and finally being set free from his inner covetousness will he follow Jesus? I hope so!
3. Burden—when we are wealthy we have to haul all our stuff with us and it encumbers us so that we can’t follow God easily or quickly. In Genesis 44-46 (the other reading in our SOAP journal with Luke 18) Pharaoh told Jacob’s family “to give no care to their goods” and yet they brought it all along anyway.

A = What am I trying to bring with me on the pilgrimage with Christ? Where is my trust as I sojourn in this land of woe? Where is my affection as I serve my King? Are the resources that I steward available to be used at the Lord’s command, or do I cling to them willing to fight all challengers like the seagulls in Finding Nemo, crying, “Mine! Mine! Mine!” Will the Lord be honored by my stewardship or will he have to use circumstances to do the impossible by stripping away what I have so that I can follow him? What would my checkbook or credit card statement reveal?

 

P = O Lord, you can do what I cannot. I put my love and trust in you. I pray along with Agur son of Jakeh, “Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:8-9). Amen.