October 13
October 13
It’s impossible to trust Jesus as your Savior when you seek satisfaction in other saviors.
My friend was a wealthy and successful man. He had come from nowhere and had singled-handedly built his empire. He had a nose for the next trend and would beat others to the investment table. But he couldn’t stop acquiring things. Around his estate was a collection of his latest toys. While he was showing me his latest purchase, I told him that trying to satisfy his heart with the next new possession wasn’t working; that’s why he was compelled to keep getting the next thing. He told me I was probably right and then walked away.
That day I thought of Mark 10. After Jesus told a rich young man to sell all he had and give to the poor, the man went away sorrowful. This moment in Christ’s ministry was not about money or even about caring for the poor; it was about what effectively and functionally ruled that man’s heart. Jesus exposed what his heart loved and worshiped most. This man worshiped a god—it just wasn’t the one true God. Despite all his external religiosity, what really ruled this man’s heart was the love of material things, which is why he walked away sad.
We more fully understand this encounter and why God preserved it for us when we understand the disciples’ reaction and their question: “And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, ‘Then who can be saved?’” (Mark 10:26). The disciples’ astonishment and their question reveal that they understood something about this encounter that we sometimes don’t understand. We often think of the rich young man as being in a special class of people who find it hard to trust Jesus because they are rich. But this is not what the disciples take away from this encounter. Their “Then who can be saved?” question reveals that they understand that what Jesus has revealed about the young man’s heart is true also of them.
Every unredeemed sinner attaches his identity, hopes and dreams, and meaning and purpose to something other than God. It might not be money. It might be power, control, fame, physical health, intellectual gifts, and so on. For a while, these things satisfy our hearts and make us feel as though we don’t need a Savior. But they always leave us empty.
Then who can be saved? This question reminds us that it is impossible to serve two masters. Your heart can’t be ruled by two things. False gods prevent you from giving yourself fully to the one true God. Every sinner has a worship problem. Only by the power of Jesus’s rescuing grace can anyone seek God, abandon self-sufficiency, confess sin, and submit everything to God. His grace alone has the power to reclaim and transform our hearts. Celebrate this grace today!