Focus: Looking And Loving

Text: Mk.10:21

"Then Jesus BEHOLDING him LOVED him, and said unto him, One thing thou LACKEST: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."

We know this man in the New Testament as the Rich Young Ruler. Matthew says he is a young man. Luke says he is a ruler. Matthew, Mark and Luke unanimously acknowledge that he is a rich man. He comes to Jesus Christ, running and kneeling before Him.

One touching aspect of the story is that the Lord Jesus Christ fixes His gaze on the man and loves him. Could this be love at first sight? He loves him, not for his youthfulness, not for his fortune, and certainly not for force of influence. He loves him for him. His heart goes out for him.

Jesus Christ spots the man's Achilles heel, and says to him, "You lack one thing." The Lord sees that his problem is not in what he has, but in what he lacks. His life has a minus. He lacks a generous heart. Greed is his creed. Greed turns off the music, melody and harmony of the heart and mind.

Interestingly, He sees his moral deficits or deficiency, inadequacy, and insufficiency, yet He loves him. He sees his imperfection and limitation, yet He is fond of him. He sees something missing in his life, yet the Lord looks at him and loves him.

The Lord Jesus Christ never waits for you to be perfect to love you. Even with your imperfection, He still loves you. The Lord Jesus looks for whom His love will make perfect. His love is perfect and it perfects. Jesus Christ loves you, just by looking at you. Back in Genesis 1, after making you, God blesses you and says you are very good. Now He sees you and says, 'I love you.'

The sad thing is that the Rich Young Ruler is too blinded by greed to even take notice of Jesus' love for him. Love surges in Christ's heart for him, but he is controlled by the demon of greed. Money is a big idol in his life.

I pray that we do not disappoint love. Jesus makes a demand of him, but he is unwilling to bulge. So he goes away sorrowful. He says NO to eternal life for the sake of money. He holds tightly to his wealth and rejects life and love. He wants something as priceless as eternal life at no cost. Greed is for hell, not heaven. No one takes his avarice to heaven. We must drop all evil here in this life.

May God help us sit loose on the things of this life! Jesus is looking at you now, and He loves you. Accept Jesus' love and yield to its purifying power. Embrace His love and do what He demands of you. It is for your good. Jesus is looking at you now, and He loves you, for real!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter