July 7, 2026 · David Farmer
Eternal Life
“And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28 And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers[b] or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.””
Luke 18:18-30 →
## The Lack of Lack
What exactly does this rich man lack? He lacks lack. He never does without. He doesn’t understand the plight of the homeless and the hungry. He doesn’t have love or compassion. Love and compassion are not woozy feelings in the heart. For the rich man, love and compassion are actions of the wallet. Jesus wants him moved to compassion, and for that compassion to move from his heart to his hand to his wallet. Is Jesus saying that if you have money, you can’t go to heaven? No, but He knows this rich man will definitely undergo change if he sells everything and gives it away. And after the Saturday morning yard sale that lets it all go, he’ll have to decide again to let go of the money from the sales.
## Through The Brother’s Brother
The Biblical perspective on our wealth truly dictates a different attitude towards the money in my pocket...in the pocket of the pants God gave me. I recently read in a text book on the book of James, “Each kind of Christian [rich and poor]...has a particular kind of challenge, or ‘trial’, to face.” Having more, the challenge of the rich is to identify with the one who has less, as his “brother”. Having less, the challenge of the poor is not to be downtrodden by the world in their self, but to identify with Christ as “brother”. It’s curious that this line of thinking, along with James’ overall “faith with works” doctrine, would offer a direct line to Christ as “brother” for the rich... through the poor.
## Self-Check
It is hard for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, but the rich can go to heaven through Christ...they can get to Christ through the poor...
## Tornado Warning