Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 10 verses 17 through 22:
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ 20He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
The rich man had many things which most of us would say were admirable and also enviable. He had religion. He had wealth. He had morality. And he even had earnestness.
Yet there was still one thing he lacked.
Some years ago I would have said this one thing he lacked was giving. And, indeed, Jesus asks him to give much.
But I think now the one thing Jesus knew this man truly lacked was a sense of adventure. He had not yet come to a place of risk, of untying safety lines, of giving up something to fall back on. He had not ever known how to be anything other than prudent.
And maybe, maybe because of that, he was bored.
Jesus said, “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
This following Jesus is not safe. It is not secure. It is not for those who wish to venture little. It is daring. It is risky. It is adventurous and unnerving and never, ever predictable or boring.
And it is the way that leads to real life.
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