²¹ Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,^[a] follow me.” (Mark 10:21 CSB)

We know that through Christ death, and our belief, we have secured a firm foundation in His salvation that nothing can take away. We need not do more, but we should be compelled to do more in Christ name.

In our scripture today Christ had not yet torn the veil between heaven and earth through his sacrifice. So he was looking at the rich man’s heart when he told him what more was required of him to gain heaven. He was looking at what He knew the man could not give up.

What would He ask you and I to give up for Him?

What stands between you and God?

What, without Christ salvation, might keep you from heaven?

These are hard questions that require a searching heart and a willing mind. They require us to dig deeper into ourselves and our motives than we really want to look. They require that we bear our souls and admit our weaknesses and our human driven desires.

But if we knew it stood between a wisp of a lifetime here on earth and an eternity in heaven, would we be more apt to give it up? If the answer does not come easily then maybe we need to give whatever it is up now regardless. Nothing must be held out and apart from God, nothing should we not give up.