Luke 18:18-43; Genesis 31; Psalm 24

“Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’” (Luke 18:18 NKJV)

If you read the rest of this conversation between Jesus and this ruler, the guy was a “made man” in the heavenly sense. That list of dos and don’ts? He’d done the dos and hadn’t done the don’ts. Why oh why would he come to Jesus asking to go deeper then? The ruler was acting on a deeper impulse and he didn’t even realize it: man needs a relationship with God, not a bunch of dos and don’ts. He’d lived the way he was supposed to, according to the Pharisaic law and he still knew that something was missing. Jesus recognized that the man’s wealth had pushed God out of his life and suggested a radical solution. Give it all away and travel with Jesus. During those travels, as he followed Jesus, he’d develop a relationship with Him and begin to understand how much God loved him. He chose poorly, stuck with his riches and continued living his miserable life, trying to find someone who would lead him in a way he could stomach. We still see people today who’ve put other things in front of God: money, power, popularity, or any of a whole host of possibilities. They may be wonderful people who do all the right things, but something’s missing. We need to find a way to introduce them to a relationship with God through Jesus.

How was today? Did people see your relationship with God? Is He in first place in all you do, or has something come before God in your life? How can you live so that others will know that God is first in your life? How can you help others to put God first and learn to live in a relationship with Him?

Lord, help me build a strong relationship with You. May others see the joy I have in my relationship with You and let share how they can experience the same joy. Keep me from letting anything come between You and me.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.