God portrays multiple promises to us in the Word of God, but the main one that sticks out to me is eternal life. In Matthew 19:16, a rich young ruler comes up to Jesus and asks “…what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Jesus’ answer was simple: “keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). The rich young ruler was intrigued in this answer and asked which ones. God answered stating the Ten Commandments: “…Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 19:18-19 NKJV). Notice how Jesus didn’t mention the God part of the Ten Commandments, but the Man part. The other four commandments that are not mentioned are focused on God, whereas the ones mentioned are focused on Man. The rich young ruler stated that he has followed all these commandments, but then asked Jesus what he still lacks. (Matthew 19:20) Jesus’ response was this: “Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me’” (Matthew 19:21 NKJV). When the rich young man heard this response, he was sad because he knew he wouldn’t be able to give everything up for God. He had many possessions he was too fearful to give up in exchange for eternal life. Do you ever feel afraid when you hear that to obtain eternal life with Jesus, you have to give Him your whole self? That can be scary I’ll admit. But doesn’t eternal life with Jesus sound so much better? It’s a lifetime of joy with Jesus! The possessions you may have right now are only temporary, but Jesus is forever. Once you give God your whole self, you will be set free! Free from the bondage of anxiety…Free from the bondage of fear…Free from the bondage of sadness! Isn’t that such a blessing! Wow! Thank you Jesus for giving us this opportunity to choose You and be free! We all have a chance to obtain eternal life, but it is our choice to choose God and give up our temporary worldly possessions. If you think that it would be impossible to do so, God even states: “…’With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’” (Matthew 19:26 NKJV). All things are possible when you are fully in Christ. So what are you going to choose today? Temporary or Forever?

Amen.