December 16: Matthew 19 23-26

Key Verse: Matthew 19 26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Devotion:
Jesus send a harsh reminder to us all after the rich young man came to ask Him about getting into heaven – no matter what we have or what we can achieve here on earth, it is our relationship and belief in Christ which will make all the difference. In fact, our earthly riches may well keep us from getting into heaven because with great riches often times comes greed.

It may seem impossible we could ever get into heaven because of the things we have done in our lives, but this is not a barrier to God. It may seem impossible we could get into heaven when we compare ourselves to others we look up to, but this is not a barrier to God. I may seem impossible for us to have access to heaven because of all the laws we have broken from the scriptures, but it is not up to our interpretation of any of the laws – it is up to God.

God made it possible for any one of us to gain access to heaven because He gave us His Son who willingly gave His own life as the ultimate sacrifice for us; but it is still up to us whether we do access that gift He has given us. No matter what we do on earth, if we do not place our faith and trust in Christ and accept what He has done for us, we are always going to fall short of getting into heaven. This rich young man was saddened because he was enjoying a great life because of his wealth – what he was missing was the love he should be showing Christ!

If we are not willing to give up on our greatest earthly loves or wants, then we may not be getting into heaven with Christ. He wants us to show our love toward Him means more than anything else we have on earth. Some of us chase after money, some after techy goods, some after people, some after sports… if we are not willing to put those wants into second place after God, then do we deserve a place in heaven?

Points to Ponder:
What do you choose as being most important in your life?

Will you allow Christ to take that place instead?