Sell and Give and Follow

ALL – Psalm 44:9-26
ALL – Proverbs 10:20-21
OT – Leviticus 24:1-25:46
NT – Mark 10:13-31

Which of the Ten Commandments do you get hung up on? Anything come to mind? Seriously. Have you ever murdered anyone? Are you a thief? A liar? An adulterer? Do you hate your momma?

A young man came to Jesus, asking about the way to eternal life. Jesus pointed him back to the commandments. And this young man said he’d kept them all. A.L.L.

So. What’s left?

Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. “You lack only one thing,” he told him; “go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor—and you shall have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.” – Mark 10:21, The Living Bible

I’ve often heard that Jesus was pointing this young man to his covetousness. But covetousness really seems to be about wanting what others own, primarily. Still, Jesus was clearly pointing out a heart-sin closely related to covetousness: greed. And greed is idolatry (Col. 3:5). Greed is the sin of a heart that refuses to be generous toward those in need, as God commands. Greed says that wealth is more important than God; therefore, greed is idolatry.

Then the man’s face fell, and he went sadly away, for he was very rich. – Mark 10:22, The Living Bible

Rather than following Jesus, God the Son, the man went away “for he was very rich.” He chose wealth over God. He committed idolatry, breaking the second commandment. And in so doing, he made it very plain that he was not fulfilling the first commandment, either: “You may worship no other god than me” (Exodus 20:3, The Living Bible).

When I look at the number of possessions I own—and the number of possessions I allow my children to own, implicitly teaching them that owning a lot is a normal part of life—this passage pulls me up short. I’d like to say that I’m not committing idolatry, that I’d willingly sell everything and follow Jesus, if Jesus called me to do it. It’s easy enough to say; but would I sell everything, give to the poor, and follow Jesus? Would you? I recognize in my heart a root of greed, which is idolatry. I recognize my desire to own, to possess, to have, to keep.

Jesus, forgive me and cleanse me of greed. Make me generous. May there be no idolatry in my heart. Be my Lord, my Christ, my King.

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