Matthew 19:16-29 - "The Rich Young Ruler"

The Puritan Cotton Mather, seeing how the sincere faith of previous generations had turned into complacency and indifference in his time, remarked that "Faithfulness begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother". Wealth can rightly be interpreted as a blessing from God, but so often it corrupts through its false sense of pride and self-sufficiency. Christ has been pressing the point that the kingdom is not for the wealthy and the powerful, but for little children who trust and desire to live for the glory of Another. The Lord has shown that when His law is correctly understood, it does not give us a sense of accomplishment, but drives us to the fountain of God's grace. May we all see what the rich young man could not see – that eternal life is worth dying for, and that whatever we lose for the sake of the kingdom will be paid back a hundredfold.