Daily Devotional For Thursday, January 8, 2026

Good morning Southside. I hope your day is off to a great start. We are making our way through Matthew’s Gospel in the current devotionals. Today, we come to Matthew 19:16-30. Because this is a longer discourse of Jesus talking to a rich young ruler about eternal life, we will take several days to look at this story.  This way I am able to keep the devotionals shorter. Here is the passage:

“And behold, a man came up to Him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ (17) And He said to him, ‘Why do you ask Me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’ (18) He said to Him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, (19) Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (20) The young man said to Him, ‘All these I have kept. What do I still lack?’ (21) Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ (22) When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (23) And Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. (24) Again I tell you, 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.’ (25) When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ (26) But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ (27) Then Peter said in reply, ‘See, we have left everything and followed You. What then will we have?’ (28) Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. (30) But many who are first will be last, and the last first’” (ESV).

Jesus told this “rich young synagogue ruler” to sell all. So, what does this tell us about discipleship? 

1. First, there can be no half-measures or halfway commitment. To this man, his god was his wealth. Make no mistake about this. Jesus will not allow us to give up our gods one at a time or over time. If a relationship is your god, have to give it up immediately, even if it is family (see Matt. 10:37). 
2. Second, Jesus did not just command this man to sell all he had, but he also commanded him to to turn all that he sold into a gift for others – the poor. There are some in the church who give out of pressure or guilt or duty. By this I mean, have you ever got into a rhythm of writing your tithe check and one Sunday you forgot to write it and you felt guilty? We should not feel guilty because the goal of stewardship and tithing is not about making us feel good or guilty about ourselves. We give out of love for Jesus and His church. 
3. Third, when Jesus told the man that if would sell all that he had and give it to the poor, he would have eternal life (see Matt. 19:21). Doing this does not give this man eternal life, but choosing Jesus as his God proves he has chosen total surrender with no strings attached with the ultimate choice – God or money. Even Jesus said we cannot have both as our god (see Matt. 6:24).
4. Fourth, Jesus does not want us to trash or throw away our wealth. We liquidate in order to help others in need. The early church did this in the book of Acts. When Christians were suffering persecution and starvation, other Christians in the church sold their fields and goods to meet these needs (see Acts 2:44-45). 
5. Fifth, if all are honest, we become attached to our money, wealth and possessions. We get obsessive with it and without realizing, it possesses us. The best way to stop being possessed by any god, is to break its grip, and in this case, money, by giving it away. If you want to take any god off its throne, then give away to others what it gives to you. 

With Jesus giving all of Himself on the cross for us He has the right to ask the same of us. Jesus’ example should be our example. None of us are above the Lord in this way. Read Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:24-25. Since Jesus sacrificed all for us through His death on the cross, He has an overwhelming right to ask us to do the same, don’t you think? Jesus’ evangelistic strategy with this man is probably not in any evangelism book. This is why focusing on just one method in evangelism is often ineffective.

The man practically begged Jesus, “Please Jesus, tell me what I have to do to please God to get eternal life?” She told him and you can almost hear the man say, “Well, anything but that.” Notice what Jesus did and did not do here. When the man claimed he had honored all the Ten Commandments, Jesus did not reveal to this man ways he had not. Jesus let the man’s response stand. We know that is not true for this man based on Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5:21-48. Here Jesus says that sin starts in the heart, before it goes to the hand. Sin is first an attitude before it is an action. 

So, Jesus gave this man an option that would reveal he was not the good man he thought he was. Jesus’ command was like holding up a mirror to the man so that he could see the man in the mirror – himself as he really is. He was trying to serve two masters, be loyal to two teams and sadly, in the end money won. This man made his choice. But we do have an example in the Gospel where a rich man did this – Zacchaeus (see Luke 19:1-10). We will continue with this more on Friday.

Assignment: What is something Jesus might ask you to give up and give it away to someone in more need of it than you? You may not have thought of it this way, but it is your god. If Jesus told you to give up all your possessions and money and give it to the poor, would you do it? In some way He is. It is not that you might have to do this, but are you willing to do this? What would Jesus say is your god?

Scripture To Meditate On: Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, help me to see what are my gods that come before You. Whatever god or gods I have I submit them to You. If You command me to give them all away, I will. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly