"Truly I tell you," Jesus said to them,"no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life."
Luke 18:29, 30 (NIV)
This is the third account by Luke of our Lord telling us that we must make decisions between our families and His kingdom. Whether we downplay this aspect of discipleship or not in our own lives, it is very clear that Luke wants Theophilus to know, with certainty, that a disciple of the Lord Jesus must make a choice between family and the Lord.
Many of us give up trying to understand this passage when we read the account of the rich ruler, especially when we hear the Lord say that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Yet the truth is that the man came looking for eternal life - he knew that he was lacking something and - when our Lord pointed out to him that what was keeping him from attaining eternal life was his wealth, he went away sad. His wealth had reduced the narrow door to the size of the eye of a needle!
According to Luke, a person who claims to be a Christian and who has never had to make a choice between financial security and the Lord, or between pleasing family versus pleasing God, lacks something. The ruler went away sad not angry, which gives us hope that he eventually found his way into the kingdom; that the Spirit made the kingdom so compelling to him, that the eye of the needle became a narrow door that he was able to enter.
There is hope for him and hope for all of us who know that there is something lacking in us. What wonderful promises the Lord gives to all who make these tough choices. The promise for this life gives us hope for our families and our finances right now today, and the promise of eternal life to come is the most precious promise of all!
The Bible contains only one over-arching message: TRUST GOD! This is surely the message of this text. Will I trust His Son for salvation? Will I trust His promise? Will I choose to follow Jesus over finances, over my dad’s family, and over my family, in the specific situation I find myself in today?
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