Mat. 19:20-21 ... "The young man said to Him, 'All these I have kept. What do I still lack?' Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and, come, follow Me.'"
One day there came unto Jesus a man who was young and rich (Luke adds that he was also a ruler) with a question for Jesus: "What good deed must I do to have eternal life?" He was to be commended for being interested in how to obtain eternal life, for that ought to be the greatest ambition of everyone. Jesus directed him to keep the law from God that prevailed during that period of time, the Law of Moses. He specifically quoted five of the Ten Commandments, as well as this decree, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," (Lev. 19:18). God had provided this law for the guidance of the people of Israel and intended to grant eternal life to those who were faithful and obedient to keep it.
The young man made a good impression on Jesus, for we are told that "Jesus, looking at him, loved him," (Mk. 10:21). He evidently found integrity, sincerity, and spiritual potential in him as He looked into the depths of the young man's soul. So when he answered, "All these I have kept from my youth," Jesus did not refute him. Doubtlessly, he had been reared by orthodox Jewish parents who had been careful to instruct him to observe the Law. They had trained their son in the way that he should go, and in the early stage of his adult life he had not departed from it, (Pro. 22:6). In spite of all this, however, he felt unsure in his heart. There was a gnawing feeling that there was a deficiency, something of which he was falling short. He was again to be commended, since he differed so much from the self-righteous Jews who were most confident in how well they kept the Law and convinced that God's favor rested fully upon them.
Jesus very readily saw the thing that the young man lacked, and surprisingly it was something that most people cannot understand to be a deficiency. What he lacked was paradoxically having too much! (Or, very simply, he lacked the spirit of generosity.) So Jesus told him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor." Matthew then notes that "he had great possessions." It is evident that his wealth interposed between himself and God. The only way to clear the channel to God, who alone can grant eternal life (v.26), was to rid himself of his wealth through philanthropic donations. His affections, trust, and ambitions were centered upon that wealth, not upon God who awards eternal life only to those who love Him first, trust Him above all, and burn with the ambition to accomplish His will.
This event is tragic, because it is reported that "when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful," (v.22). In the final analysis he valued his possessions more than he did eternal life. Here we may relate his case to our selves. It is indeed possible that there is something between each of us and God that is more important to us than pleasing God and receiving His gift of eternal life. For some it could be the love of material things, though they are not particularly wealthy. For others it could be the desire to gratify sinful urges. In the case of many it could be an overwhelming ambition to excel in a career or profession so that no time is left to serve God. For not a few it could be a constitutional tendency toward arrogance, aggressiveness, intolerance, or pride. For still others it could be a bad habit like gossiping, using bad language, dishonesty, or stealing. This encounter in Jesus' ministry is designed to persuade us to ferret out anything in our lives that intervenes between us and God with His gift of eternal life. It is the ultimate human tragedy to forfeit that supreme gift for something that pleases us only during our brief earthy existence.
