Again, on the road to Jerusalem, Jesus was met by a young man who ran excitedly to him and reverently knelt at his feet, saying, Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? (Mark 10:17)

How it must have warmed our lord's heart to hear these words so earnestly spoken! This was precisely the question he longed to hear from the lips of men. To test the depth of the man's sincerity he asked him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone" (Mark 10:18)

In other words, he asked him frankly, Do you really believe that I am God? The young man had no answer to that question, so Jesus probed him still further to discover what effort he had thus far made to enter the kingdom.

Without a moment's hesitation, the man replied: Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy (Mark 10:20). He had habitually made it a practice to keep the commandments, to do no evil, but that was not enough. With all of his wealth, what good had he done? It would appear that he had done very little positive good. He loved his wealth for its own sake and not for the sake of the means it afforded him to serve others. This was his central problem. He must find victory at this point or he could not follow Jesus.

The words of the rich young ruler find echo in the words of the Apostle Paul, written some years later. He too had been blameless as for legalistic righteousness, faultless (Philippians 3:7)

A man does not become a Christian by using his natural resources to help others. He does, however, become a Christian when he reaches the place where he is willing to give up anything that stands between him and Christ, whether it be wealth, or pleasure, or ambition, or self-indulgence, or any other thing.

At the words, Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me (Mark 10:21), the young ruler decided that the price was too great. Having come to Jesus full of excitement and enthusiasm, he went away full of sadness. Jesus, too, was saddened, for he saw great possibilities in the young man. Turning to his disciples, he warned them that it was not easy to put God first in one's life, especially when it meant the making of genuine sacrifice. How hard it is for a man of ample means to feel dependent upon God! And yet, a man who trusts in his own resources simply cannot enter into the kingdom (Mark 10:24-25)