Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
What is it about being rich that makes it hard to follow Jesus? We risk becoming so apparently self-sufficient that we forget about the God from whom all blessings flow.
Because you are haughty of heart,
you say, "A god am I!
I occupy a godly throne
in the heart of the sea!"—
And yet you are a man, and not a god,
however you may think yourself like a god.
When blessings come and go we are more likely to be thankful. Riches become a baseline. They become something we take for granted. Once this happens we stop being thankful we become prideful. If we have riches it must be because of our own greatness and wisdom. And if we are this good at looking after ourselves for what do we need God? We're good, or so we imagine.
We need to put Jesus first.
Then Peter said to him in reply,
"We have given up everything and followed you.
We don't necessarily need to get rid of every possession. But we do need to make a clean break with anything that is keeping us from following him. The places he leads us are all different. He directs us to use our gifts for his glory. But sometimes we prefer entertainment or lesser and less intimidating forms of service. These are riches we cannot afford. When we choose them we are investing in temporary things which cannot last. We should leave them and follow Jesus. The right place is always the place to which he calls us.
What will there be for us?
Riches draw us for a reason. Jesus himself is the only one who can fulfill the deepest impulse underlying those desires. The secret is to seek true riches by storing up treasure in heaven.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.
Jesus became poor so that through his poverty we might become rich (see Second Corinthians 8:9). The deepest truth of true riches is the divinity in which he longs for us to share. Let us cast aside all that does not draw us toward this goal.
Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity.
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