Mark 10: 17
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What do I do?" A question that in most applications might have a quick answer, but difficult to achieve the goal for the one asking. "What do I do to make the football team?" "What do I do to get a promotion?" "What do I do to stop my substance abuse?" All questions that come with answers that takes effort and sacrifice. In Mark's gospel reading this weekend, we hear the story of the rich young man, who asks Jesus, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" The young man goes on to tell Jesus that he has observed the commandments and lived a good life. Then Jesus tells him that he is lacking in one thing: to sell everything he has, give the money to the poor, and follow him. The man went away sad because he had much. What must I do to inherit eternal life? This is a question we all have probably asked ourselves at one time or another. What do I need to do to get to heaven? Is there a checklist? Sure, but it's really God's grace that gets us there...nothing more. However we can help things by living the 10 commandments. What about receiving the body and blood of Jesus we read about in John chapter 6? Yet there are times when we fail at all of these. So will that preclude us from gaining eternal life? Only God knows that. But we ARE called to strive toward greatness for God's sake, not for our own. Later in this reading we find Jesus telling his disciples that nothing a human can do will insure them of entrance to God's kingdom. It is only through God's grace. Jesus says, "for human beings, it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." This does not mean that we should sit back knowing that our belief will get us in. Jesus uses the example of the young man to teach us to be generous to the less fortunate, to give to those with less, to live by the law given to Moses in the commandments. Let us live with holy boldness, great courage in our world, proclaiming as living witnesses the love of God in our lives as we help our brothers and sisters while giving glory to God. For with God's grace and living in the scriptures, we might attain eternal life with him.
