It would be so easy to pass judgement on the man in the story. He’s standing there, in front of Jesus, the Savior, who invites the man to follow him. We may want to scream at the text and ask, “What are you doing? Don’t you know who’s asking you?” The answer would likely be that he does not. Yes, we can easily pass judgement on this man until we take a closer look at the text and ourselves.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. He knew the heart of this man’s question found in verse 17, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” This man knew the commandments. It’s clear from his question that even though he felt he had kept the commandments (which, by the way he hadn’t, and no one ever has), he knew in his heart that something wasn’t quite right, wasn’t enough. And so, his question to Jesus.

Sell it all, give it all away to the poor and come walk the world with me! Can you picture the man’s face? Do what? His reaction was immediate sadness. This was too big an ask.

Now the next question—Is Jesus saying that wealth is wrong or makes it impossible to get to heaven? No. He did say that it would be hard. However, Jesus isn’t saying that to be truly committed to him, we must live a life of poverty. He is saying that the man and all of us need to take a careful review of our priorities.

Money isn’t the only distractor that can pull us away from Jesus. What distracts us from our time with the Savior? Is it our activities and overly scheduled life? Might it be our time in front of a screen? Could it be that hobby, which may be a great hobby, but that takes away our time in worship, in the Word, in prayer? Is it worry or stress? These are things that most people struggle with. We want to be in the Word, walking with our Savior. Making the changes in priorities to commit to the time with Jesus, is not as easy. Good intentions. Little outcome.

So now what? Each day is a gift of grace. Jesus hasn’t changed his mind. He still wants you to spend time with him each day. He loves to hear from you. He loves to speak to you through his Word. He loves to use you to share his message of grace and forgiveness to all around us. Jesus wants us to remember that it’s not what we do, but what he has done that gives us heaven with him.

Today-consider one small change you can make to your routines. What step can you take that will give you more time with Jesus? What’s getting in the way? No need for a dramatic selling of everything. Simply stop and reflect on your daily life. Review your priorities. Then set goals for yourself that can provide more and more time with the One who loves you dearly. He went to the cross for you. That’s how much he loves you. He loves to hear from you and loves to share with you through the Word. May God bless you as you seek to be with him more and more.