Verse of the Day 10/26

Verse of the Day 10/26

Mark 10:17  And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  

English Standard Version (ESV)

In yesterday's verses we considered the statement in Romans 12:1 that God is good as the basic premise to our faith.  In today's passage, a rich young ruler approaches Jesus and wants to know how he can be assured of eternal life.  He approaches Jesus with the mindset that he has been a "good person" and has obeyed the law.  He poses the question with the attitude that he likely has met the requirements already.

Many people then and now that have seen the works of Jesus and the impact that He has had upon His followers would probably address Jesus the same way, admitting that he is a good person, a good teacher.  Their response would also be similar to his opinion.  It is easy to judge ourselves as being better than the next person or at least above the bar of most (conveniently setting our own bar).  Jesus response to the young man surprised him and cause him to go away discouraged.

Jesus could have been much harder on the man, He did not go through the whole list of 10 commandments.  He didn't need to.  We all fall short (Romans 3:23), but that doesn't mean that we have no hope.  We can be transformed as we read yesterday, our minds can be renewed, and our hearts can be changed when we turn from our own preconceived ideas and follow Jesus teachings and come to Him in faith.

If it comes up in conversation and someone asks you "what must I do to inherit, to receive eternal life", how would you respond?

May we be ready to share something from God's Word, such as:

Ephesians 2:8-10   God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. New Living Translation

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

Mark 10:17-22 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Rich Young Man

¹⁷ And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" ²⁰ And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth." ²¹ And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." ²² Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.