The Rich Man
17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “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.’[a]”
20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard[b] to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 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!”
26 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
27 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
28 Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.
29 “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.[c]”
I do love this story in the Bible but recently it has become even more poignant. It makes me think of people that have lost everything that they own in a natural disaster or accident. It makes me think of homeless people that are believers in Christ. Think of how close they are to Him; the poorest of the poor as well from all over the world. The last will be first when entering into the gates of heaven.
We are in the process of renovating my home and business area and I have moved to my first floor, while the rest of the house is being finalized. Somehow, someway, in the chaos that was my old upper floors, every single thing that either meant something significant, or I needed, was thrown out. (My towels and bed linens, books, CD's, and kitchen things survived the move.) They literally moved down two floors, not across the world. But, I'm extremely upset that 5-6 contractor bags of my clothes (pants, shirts, undies, socks, jammies, sweaters), blankets, towels, comforters, table cloths, 3 cases of family pictures and memories, (most of Tom as a baby and as he grew), a mandolin, my original artwork going back 22 years, my original writings going back 50 years, letters and postcard from my parents and grandparents, friends and even ex-love interests, original documents in a safe (yes, they threw out an actual SAFE), a hefty scarf collection (fashion), winter coat, my mom's wedding dress, my son's/brother's/grandfather's Christening gown and outfit, my parent's wedding cake topper and album, and pieces of artwork my Mom had made as well as prints of artists that I love, my clothes rack for drying, my bureau mirror and collector dolls and antiques. Yes, it's all stuff. Yes, I am beyond upset and angry over it. These were the items I decided to keep after meticulously going through the house purging and boxing things up for donations. 49 boxes went to the Vietnam Veterans of America and another 3 contractor bags of clothing and shoes went to St. Mary's. Probably 100 bags of garbage were discarded as well. I have to say that it was Incredibly exhilarating to unburden myself of all of those items. Even my discarded furniture, which were antiques, found good homes.
Contemplating this story now, I see myself in the rich man AND in the disciples. My heart is like the disciples ~ full of love for Christ and wanting to be as near to him as possible. My life was more like the rich man though ~ filled with material stuff. Prior to my purge I would have given Him that horrified look too. You want me to do what?? Give away all my stuff??
The good news is that I've reached the point now, after living with the reality for a few months, where I'm ready to let go of more of my items that are currently sitting in the garage, It's items that I wanted to keep initially. They no longer hold the importance that they once did, even just a few months ago.
I will miss seeing all my baby's milestones and the family and friends I have lost over the years in my albums, but maybe losing the rest is a good thing. If I'm sick over everything that I lost, maybe I put WAY too much emphasis on my material things and not enough on my spiritual growth. God has knocked me on the head in the past to get my attention. Maybe this is another knock to help me to let go and let God. I think that I will do just that.
Here's hoping that you can do the same.🙏
Peace,
Mare
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