Jesus Saves Us, Remember That....

Mark 10:23-31 “Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches[d] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”

27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

28 Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.”

29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
I wanted to point out a few things within this passage. In verse 24, Jesus answered how hard is it for those who “trust” in riches to enter the kingdom of God. This doesn’t mean that you can’t be rich but it means that you shouldn’t trust in things nor put them before God. You must have God before everything understanding that it’s Jesus that saves, not things. You must also know that it’s God that allows you to get possessions. Your possessions are to be used by you, not to use you or be your god (Matthew 6:24). I believe Jesus also mentioned riches because that’s something that people hold on to dearly. In Matthew 6:21 it says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.“ This means, what you value the most is where your heart is. People are serious about their money and most people only motive in life is to make money. They let it in a way, be their god when indeed, our motives in life should be to please God and to be of service to others. I’ve definitely been guilty of this before until I was brought down to ground zero, nothing.
There are times we go through things and this statement is made more evident. You may have gone through or going through a time where things are being taken away from you. During this time you understand that your joy or life is not controlled or valued by things but it’s controlled and valued by God. You have to understand that as in Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” This gives you the correct understanding that as you put God before everything in life (riches, family, friends, etc), you’ll then begin to see additional things come to you. Doing this shows God where your heart is. God wants to know that when you have things and when you don’t, He’s still first in your life. He wants to ensure that you’re not saying He’s first when things are only going well but you can also say and put Him first when people turn their back on you, or whatever else that may come to challenge you. 

Also, within this same passage of scriptures in verses 29-31, Jesus ensures His followers that as they make Him first in life and be about His way of doing things, whatever you gave up you will receive back and more. Verse 30 clearly states that you’ll receive back “in this time” and then He also mentions in eternal life. He also mentions that even though things will be multiplied unto you, you’ll still have to go through some things in life. This is another point, God never promised that we wouldn’t go through anything but he did promise that He’d be there through EVERYTHING we go through (Deuteronomy 31:6&8, Joshua 1:9, Hebrews 13:5) . When we can accept that He’s with us through it all, we can then be assured that we’ll come out in victory each time.

So make sure you have God before everything which means He’s most important to you in life. We must keep in mind that it’s God that gave us breath and wakes us up each morning, not our alarm clocks. It’s God that gave us gifts/ability to acquire skills/wealth/etc. Jesus is the Vine, we are the branches and without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). When you truly understand that, putting God first will be easy. So reflect and ensure that you do indeed have God before everything. Remember, God didn’t give us things to save us, He gave us Jesus to save us. Put your trust in the right One. Stay in the race.