Tuesday: The Best Investment
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 20th of August 2024
Read Mark 10:17-31. What crucial lessons about faith and the cost of discipleship—for anyone, rich or poor—is revealed here?
The man’s approach indicates his sincerity and respect for Jesus. He runs up, kneels before Him, and asks the question central to the destiny of every soul—What are the requirements in order to inherit eternal life? Jesus responds by referring to the second table of the Decalogue. Again, the man shows his idealism by saying that he has kept all these, even from his youth.
Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com
Of the four Gospels, Mark alone notes that Jesus loved the man. There is something appealing about the man’s idealism. But Jesus tests his sincerity by asking him to sell everything and to follow Him. The man leaves crestfallen because he had great possessions. In fact, he was not really keeping the commandments. He broke the first one, placing something above God in his life. His riches were his idol.
Jesus then explains how seductive riches are and that it is easier for a big animal like a camel to go through the tiny hole of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven.
The disciples are astonished by Jesus’ words and wonder who can be saved. Jesus delivers the punch line in Mark 10:27. “ ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God’ ” (ESV).
Mark 10:27 seems like a beautiful place to end the story: you cannot make it to heaven on your own, you need the grace of God in order to be saved.
But then Peter blurts out that he and his friends have left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus responds that whatever you have left to follow Him is nothing in contrast to what you will receive, now and in “the age to come” (ESV).
Here is the point: it is the death of Christ that resolves human guilt, and then the grace of Christ and His resurrection are what empower obedience to His commands.
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Read Romans 6:1-11. How do these verses reveal the reality of God’s grace in our lives, both in justifying us and in making us new people in Him? |
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Of course the best investment is in the will of God. Romans 1, it talks about grace also. Specially Romans 1:5-6. It goes along with the investment I just mentioned, I do believe.
The story of the rich ruler is often used to make the judgement that if you are rich, you are not likely to go to heaven. But it is more than that. It is a matter of perspective. The rich man saw eternal life as the continuation of what he had now. It is the story of the farmer who built bigger barns all over again. He wanted more of what he had now.
Jesus saw through this thinking and told him it wasn’t more. He had to deal with the singularity or discontinuity between now and eternity in the present. That was too much. The rich man wanted the status quo and then some more.
It is easy for us to apply this to rich people. I am guessing that most of us have quite ordinary possessions, so we feel very comfortable pointing the finger at the rich. Except Jesus says quite a bit about those who think they are spiritually rich and have need of nothing. He talks about eye salve to see our spiritual condition. Is it possible that we think we are rich in the Gospel and are fooling ourselves?
[A very special thanks to all of you who have prayed for me during the last few days. The surgery was a success and the Dr was smiling. He removed a growth, the size of a walnut from my bowel. We have not received the lab results back yet but from what the surgeon could see there was no evidence of lymph node infection.
I may not comment every day. I have a lot of rehab to go through to get my full mobility back, but I did walk the length of the hospital corridor today.
Once again, many thanks for your prayers. It has been a great source of support for me to read your messages of hope and comfort.]
Maurice
Praise God for the outcome!! So glad to read your remarks on here. I was surprised it is so soon. How wonderful. May God continue to speed your recovery and strengthen you daily
Like the rich young ruler, let us not try to hold on to anything. He could not give up his possession because he saw himself losing everything. Even though everything we have belongs to Christ. It was just a test of faith. What if after he gave away all he got. God allowed him to get everything back. How foolish human being can be?
You and your family have been in my prayers. I'm glad that the surgery was a success and pray that your recovery will be smooth and complete. Praising God with the rest of the SSnet community for whom your contributions have been part of our daily bread.
To God be the glory, Maurice and welcome back. He who made the world has you in the palm of His hands.
May the good Lord bless and keep you always, and pray that you will recover well, in the mighty power of the name of Jesus.
Dear Maurice
I had the biggest grin this morning when I noticed you had commented. I thank God that your surgery went well. We will continue to pray for you in the Caribbean as well. I do wish you a speedy recovery. Blessings on Blessings to you!
Praise the Lord. We'll continue praying.
Oh! What a wonderful surprise to read your comment this morning. Thanking God for you and a successful surgery. Speedy recovery!
God be praised for the good report. all will end to His glory. Amen
Praising God for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. To God Be The Glory Great Things He Has Done.
Maurice, I, like many others was happy to see you comment. The wait reminded me of the tense moments of radio silence when the Space Shuttle would reenter earth's atmosphere on it's way back to earth. I'm glad the mission (surgery) went well and was successful. It made me say, "Praise the Lord!, thank you Jesus!". Welcome back Captain. 😉 (at your own pace)
God is Good all the time.... 😊
To God be the glory Maurice. I am glad you are back and seem to be recovering quickly. I will continue to keep you in my prayers. You have been a blessing to me each time I read your comments on the sabbath school lesson. Keep holding on and looking to Jesus. One day this will all be over and there will be no more sickness, pain, death and suffering. Let us keep being faithful until Jesus returns to take us home.
Praise the Lord. Welcome back Maurice
Isn't it interesting as to how Jesus tells the "Rich Young Ruler" to sell all that he has, give it to the poor, and to follow Him but he never says to Zaccheaus to do the same? Now Zaccheaus was not as rich as the Rich Young Ruler nor was he either a Ruler, but he was a "Wealthy Tax Collector" nevertheless.
And Zaccheaus offered before he could even be asked.
Praise the Lord for the success of the surgery. May the Lord complete the healing.
Dear Maurice - Thanks be to God - glad to find you among the living and in good spirit!! 🙂
All I can say is Allelua
To God be the Glory
You were truly Missed.
To God be the glory!
Maurice,
I was happily surprised when I saw your post, and was grateful to again read your comments. We will continue to lift you up in prayer. We will continue to have faith that God will see you through this, and pray that your test results are benign.
Maurice ...our prayers will bring the sickness out of You,for sure..AMEN 🙏🏿!!!
Amen, the Lord has been gracious.
Quickest recovery to you!!!!
Hello everyone. Bro Maurice, I am delighted to see that you are back. Praise God for the miracle of modern medicine. My comment on the lesson is that I want to live empowered by Jesus every day.
Glory to God
Praising God for a successful procedure! Trusting Him to grant you the gift of complete healing - DV. May He continue to guide the medical staff involved, praying that you will soon be fully recovered. Blessings.
May God grants you His healing power.
Many Adventists that still have their riches (properties) and won't sell them sister white says "if you have houses you have to sell them and use for them kingdom of God."
Now is the time that we can witness on what's going on in the world and everyday is getting closer to the end. This the time that we should sell our propertie(s) to use for witnessing and invest them for God's work. Lots of missions we can do. There's no shortage in the work of God and everything involves money. If we care for the lost souls we will have a heart to reach out🙏 if we have money invested in the bank and any shares it will be no good to anyone because as soon as they approved the national Sunday law which is not that far away it will be too late. It's sad to see those people have their money invested in the bank, keeping their properties when they can see on what's going on the world. It breaks my heart ❤️ if they don't want to do it themselves help the other missionaries with their financing.
I say this because we buy pallets of books, thousands of books to be used for door knocking and hand them to the shows where people are heading so they don't have much to carry, support evangelisms in overseas, you can hand books to the people in carpark or shops or anywhere you can reach. There's plenty of ways you can do for God. It is very inspiring to work for the Lord. "If" you are willing. Invest your time to God. Use it for the kingdom of heaven. You have to reach out to people anywhere is my prayer 🙏
I hesitate to suggest what others should do with their possessions, since I believe the timing of selling possessions is up to the individual and the Holy Spirit. We do not know when others should sell their possessions.
There's also a lot more going on right now than meets the eye. We have been told that God uses people "in the assemblies of men" to hold back wickedness. These are not members of God's organized church, but I believe they are living up to the light they know, and they are of more use where they are than they would be in the church. It is not up to us to judge them because they are "not one of us." Each one of us has our work to do, and God will direct us if we seek Him daily.
However, it is encouraging to read what others are doing and how they are going about it. Perhaps you can share some of your experiences?
I find it interesting that the rich young ruler had a works righteousness mentality. Jesus didn't bother to correct his theology but instead revealed a blind spot that he had. His wealth had obviously unknowingly become an idol to him which he wasn't ready or willing to part with. He would be trying to serve two masters, which Matthew's Gospel points out is impossible.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [a]mammon. Matthew 6:24
The disciples were flabbergasted because the common teaching of the day was the prosperity gospel. If you had riches, you were considered in a better standing with God. God wanted you rich. Do we hear anything like that today?
Can't you almost feel Judas's disappointment in seeing the rich young ruler reject Christ's offer? All that wealth could have helped expand their coffers greatly, as well as Judas's purse.
Things haven't changed much since then. In fact we live in a more materialistic society now than then on a per capita basis.
The eye of the needle thing needs to be commented on because of the camel (instead of elephant) in the room. 😉😊 Jesus wasn't speaking about a literal needle, but a narrow passage that required unloading the camel and having the camel essentially crawl through the passage. It could be done, but only without bearing a burden. Hmmm! I wonder if there's a spiritual lesson there beyond materialistic things?
We need to lay everything on the Altar, our wealth, our reputation, our idols, even our burdens, when we come to Jesus. It was just too much for the rich young ruler. How about for us?
Praise the Lord, sir we are blessed to have you back.
Maurice, I just want you to know that, if you are unsure if your daily efforts to offer commentary and guidance in regards to the lesson go anywhere, I want to assure that they indeed do. I myself find a great benefit often in your commentary that helps me to see the point of the lesson, where sometimes I cannot, as I a sure many others do as well. You work not in vain, this you can be assured of.
Im sure glad that your surgery went well and I hope the your rehab continues go well! We look forward to your blessings you give us with your words and the blessings that God gives us all with these lessons, in these days to come. We give thanks to the Lord for all he us given us here.
Thank you Shannon. You are both encouraging and humbling.
The best investment is undoubtedly in God's will. He is to be praised for allowing us to choose eternal life. When we decide to do His will for our lives, no matter what happens, everything comes for our growth. Our fight is against ourselves to accept His blessings! Have a great day!
Romans 6:1-11 reveals that God's grace justifies us, freeing us from the penalty of sin, and also transforms us, enabling us to live a new life in Christ where sin no longer reigns over us. This dual aspect of grace—justification and sanctification— demonstrates the complete and transformative work of God in our lives.
Good to see your recovery is fairly rapid Maurice, it definitely pays to prepare for surgery with exercise, and last minute prayers. God Bless you.
Welcome back Maurice!
Has anyone ever been hired by a poor person? It's not the wealth, it is the attitude about the wealth.
Maurice it is a joy to see you wrote in today's lesson. I always look forward to hear from you.
I am happy/overjoyed to know that your surgery went well and i am sure that God will continue doing for you according to His will.
I will continue to pray.
welcome back Maurice,happy to hear that your surgery went well. I just wanted you to know that I am always looking to hear your perspective, thank you for always sharing.
is it bad to want to be rich as christians especially adventists ?
Mark 10:24-27 – Jesus speaking: ”… “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!” vs.27 "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." This is what Jesus pointed out for the young man to ponder.
I consider the lesson writer’s description of the rich man’s response a bit harsh as he judges his motives; after all, he was ‘sorrowful’ as he went away. Based on his perspective, all Christians possessing anything in this world would fall into this same category. Only the 12 disciples are known to have left their families, homes, and profession to follow Jesus for the duration of His ministry - 3.5 years. Is this implied to be a requirement in order to inherit eternal life?
Does Jesus expect all believers to divest themselves of their possessions, even their family? As I see it, Jesus clearly pointed out the qualifying aspects of how to live one’s life in this world. In response to the rich man’s request to know what to do to inherit eternal life, He responded ‘not to trust in 'riches’; anything - possession, family relations, standing in the community, etc. poses as a potential 'distraction'.
This is where I place the focus of this lesson – not to trust in anything other than the goodness of my heavenly Father and my faith and love of Him. I do not see Jesus excluding the rich man from the possibility to inherit eternal life. He only pointed out that he will have a difficult road ahead - like the camel trying to squeeze itself through the ‘eye of the needle’. Thanks be to God - with Him, all things are possible!!!
All thanks and praises to our God Almighty on the success of your surgery. May HE continue to be with you as you go through the path of healing and may the lab results come out good. 🙏🙏
Most people who have great possession are not humble ,that's why Jesus says it is not easy for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.Remember we talked humility yesterday as part of being a child of God.
To God be the glory!
To God be the Glory great things He hath done Maurice God is the healer continue to lean and depend on Jesus
So thankful that your surgery was successful, praying for full recovery. We do appreciate you and the insights the Holy Spirit has shared with you in your study.
It is encouraging so many people have taken the time to welcome me back. I feel I am among friends who care.
I am writing this on Thursday. I came home yesterday and while it is good to be home, I am coming to terms with how long it is going to take to heal. I was walking 6km a day before the operation but can only manage 50m at a time now. It will get better, and I have a loving and supportive wife looking after me.
Once again, thank you for your prayers and welcome back.
The account is of a young man of which it is specifically said that Jesus loved him.
Jesus first words to this young man is a question, basically asking the young man if he understands who He, Jesus, really is. "Why are you calling Me good? God alone is good." Does the young man recognize Christ's divinity? Does he recognize that Jesus has come to this world to give eternal life. The young man is obviously recognizing that he needs something more than what he is and has, he's been applying the law to his life for as long as he can remember. He's been raised to observe the law, he had also been taught to look upon the rich as the favorites of heaven. But inside he realizes it's not enough. "What shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" he asked.
What He needs is a Savior.
THE BIG DECISION
The biggest decision people make is their choice between following Jesus with all their heart and mind and soul, or choosing the temporal securities (and other worldly things) of this life above Jesus.
The young man came to Christ because he saw in Christ something he wanted. His heart was drawn toward the Saviour. But he was not ready to accept the Saviour's principle of self-sacrifice. He chose the security of his riches and allowed that to stand between him and Jesus. He wanted eternal life, but would not accept that unselfish love which alone is life, and with a sorrowful heart he turned away from Christ.
The young man turned away sorrowfully, but I think the greater sorrow was in Jesus' heart. It specifically says, Jesus loved him!
Ulrike:
So nice to see you commenting again. I always appreciate your insights into
the studies. Thank you, and don't be a stranger.