Mark 10:17-22 Riches
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: March 7, 2018, Mark 10:17-22
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
As Jesus was setting out again, a man ran up to him, knelt down in front of him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Nobody is good except for one—God. You know the commandments: ‘Never murder.’ ‘Never commit adultery.’ ‘Never steal.’ ‘Never give false testimony.’ ‘Never cheat.’ ‘Honor your father and mother.'” The man replied to him, “Teacher, I have obeyed all of these since I was a young man.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. Then he told him, “You’re missing one thing. Go and sell everything you own, give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.” Shocked at this statement, the man went away sad, because he had many possessions.
(Understanding the Text) Jesus did not search out the young rich man. The young rich man searched out Jesus. This tells me that the young man sensed that there was something missing in his life that needed fulfillment. Although he believed that he was obeying God in everything, he sensed that there was something more, something missing. He went to Jesus to fill that empty space, but he was shocked when Jesus told him to empty himself of his things in order to be full.
On the surface, Jesus’ command is outrageous, but underneath, it is generous. On the surface, it seems that Jesus is demanding more of this rich young man than He did of others, but the truth is that He demands the same of all of us. When He came to Peter, James, and John, Jesus told them, “Follow Me,” and they left everything to totally commit to Him. It is true that He had given them signs that He could physically take care of them, but the rich young man had also seen the signs that Jesus had already provided, or the ruler never would have approached Jesus.
(Application) Jesus tells me to let go of my worldly possessions and ambitions in order to follow Him. He assures me that He will take care of me. In the beginning, I tried to follow Jesus while still holding on to the worldly ways. In the end, those worldly ideas dragged me farther and farther away from Jesus. Now, I have finally committed totally to Jesus and left the worldly ideas in the trash heap, but they creep back in. I have to continually commit to trusting Jesus because I find that I have begun trusting in the world again without realizing it. I need to keep committing to following Jesus daily and sometimes hourly because I fail so miserably at trusting Him with my life and maintaining a total commitment to Him.
(Understanding the Text) The young man thought of himself as good. Thus, a rabbi must be even better. Jesus tries to point out the young man’s sinful condition to him. Jesus asks why the young man called Him good? He says that only God is good. Of course, Jesus is God so the title of good is appropriate for Him, but the young man was not calling Jesus good because he believed that Jesus was God. The young man did not understand the meaning of being good. Jesus points to the ten commandments, and the young man, who is only focused on outward behavior, claims to have kept them. Jesus had shown many times that there was more to keeping the commandments than outward behavior, but He could see that the young man was clueless about the deeper spiritual significance of the commandments. Thus, Jesus asked the young man to prove that he was committed to the first commandment of loving God. “You are to have no other gods besides me” (Exo 20:3). The young man shows that he has not obeyed even the first commandment because his riches are his god. Jesus tells the young man to sell everything and give it to the poor. The young man’s shock at this suggestion shows that he had not truly obeyed the last six commandments which are summed up in “Love your neighbor.”
(Revelation of God / Understanding the Text) This young man was a legalist, and the Bible says that Jesus loved him. So many of us say that we are committed to following Jesus, but we focus on legally following Him when He simply wants to love us. He wants us to love Him. He wants us to see Him rather than all the rules. Peter followed Jesus because he always wanted to be with Jesus, not because of a religious rule. The young man did not value Jesus. Instead, he valued things, and he viewed Jesus as one more thing that he could use to fill his emptiness. Jesus loved the young man, but the young man could not reciprocate. The young man saw the “give up” part of Jesus’ statement instead of the “follow me” part of the statement. Jesus was asking for a total commitment to Himself. He was saying, “Come love me as I love you.” What the young man heard was “Deprive yourself and sacrifice yourself so that you can get something that may not be as good as what you are giving up.”
(Understanding the Text) Jesus knew that the only way to save this young man for heaven was to detach him from the world. As long as the young man had riches, he would always be called back to the world, but if he gave up his riches, he could be of use to God and be focused only on heaven. In some ways this is the same test that God gave to Abraham several times. Each time, Abraham passed the test and became wonderfully useful for God. This young man failed the test of faith. He could not trust enough to leave the security of his past to follow God into an uncertain future.
(Application) However, the future is only uncertain if I do not trust God to take care of me and lead me into blessings. Implied in every sacrifice that God asks me to make is the assurance of blessings. God does not ask me to leave my past security to walk a road alone. Instead, He asks me to give up my false security to walk with Him on the road to His blessings. It is only by giving up the world and the false treasures I have there, that I can truly know the blessings of heaven and the security that comes from trusting Jesus.
(Prayer) Teach me to trust and desire You above all else. I claim the blessings that come from following You. I want only the security that comes from being Your follower, so wean me away from depending on money and people and things for my security. Let me see Your value and beauty and cling to You above all else.