Daily Devotional for Thursday, October 19

Jesus and the Disciples

“And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” Mark 10:23

In the 1987 movie, “Wall Street,” corporate raider Gordon Gecko made the following declaration, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” This simple phrase summed up the philosophy of the entire movie. In this movie, the pursuit of money was elevated to an almost transcendent level. Of course, God’s Word teaches the opposite. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10). It is important to note that money is not the root of all evil but the love of it is. Scripture never condemns financial success, and God blesses some of His children with it.

So, this passage is in no way condemning riches, although some teach that. It certainly teaches an important spiritual lesson. Many things can distract us from our allegiance to our Lord, and money tops the list of those things. Our problem begins when we devote more allegiance to chasing a buck than we place on serving Jesus. Mark 10:25 spells it out, telling us that it is hard for those who trust in riches to enter Heaven.

This is what it all boils down to, what do you place your trust in? What do you surrender yourself to? All our choices are right in front of us. God never forces us to trust in Him. What have you chosen? What controls the desires of your heart? Is it Jesus? If you choose anything else, your life may seem fulfilled, but someday you will face death and eternity. Will you be disappointed in what eternity holds for you?

JUST A THOUGHT: As He died on the cross, we were the most important thing in the world to Jesus. Why do we not make Him the most important thing to us?

Wally Fry