This post is a part of my series of once weekly devotionals called Faith for Thought. Bookmark the homepage for Faith for Thought here to return to it for the weekly update on Thursday!
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Luke 18:18-23
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.
Luke 18:18-23, NIV
Devotion
Now that it’s (starting) to feel like springtime in Michigan, we’re starting to think about when we are going up to my in-laws’ cottage this summer.
The cottage is located on a middle-of-nowhere lake somewhere up north, where over half of the shoreline is covered with trees and woods, not homes. In fact, even where there are homes, there is one thing we’ll never understand: why they never cleared for themselves a view of the lake. Dozens of homes sit on the shore of the lake, completely obscured by the trees. Sometimes I wonder if they even realize what they’re missing.
When my father-in-law first bought the cottage, that was the first thing he did: clear the trees for a view of the lake.
Without the view, sure we’d be able to walk down to the lake when we wanted, but the cottage itself wouldn’t feel much different than a small, rustic house in the middle of nowhere. We would lose sight of the most important, best thing about being up there: the lake.
Sometimes I think that’s how we live our lives, too: Caught up in the middle of nowhere without even realizing it, forgetting to clear for ourselves a view of what really matters.
Just like the rich man, who focused so much on keeping the commandments, doing good things, and trying to earn his way to heaven, that he forgot the most important thing: Following Jesus.
Action Steps
The Bible tells us in Colossians 3:2: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” But the trees didn’t cut themselves down any more than your mind would suddenly decide to reorient itself to Christ.
There’s no new secret to it. Begin by reminding yourself of the rich man’s mistake: Thinking that you have to do more good stuff to get in right relationship with Christ. He desires us to follow Him and spend time with Him, not to overcommit ourselves so much so that we lose sight of Him, the one true thing that really matters.
