The choice of the rich young man

Mark 10:17-22 (NLT)
17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

This is the story of the rich young man. The man was seeking the answer to eternal life from Jesus. The man in his heart was good and had worked to obey the commandments since a young age. It was in his goodness where his faith rested. Then out of love Jesus gave him an instruction which he was unwilling to follow.

In the verses above it says about the young rich man that “Jesus felt genuine love for him”. The young man Jesus was speaking with was not someone He was having a confrontation with; but instead Jesus was offering the young man a chance to find faith in God. The young man had a boundary he was unwilling to cross and that was to give up all his possessions. While it might not have seemed an unreasonable boundary to some the boundary was keeping him from faith in Jesus. We know Jesus loved the man and Jesus was willing to help him find what he was seeking, but Jesus also respected the young man’s boundary and did not try to coerce or push him into a decision. Jesus let the young man walk away sad. In life we need to learn to respect each other’s boundaries and realize and individual chooses to follow their own boundaries. The young man had a choice and his choice was to stick to what he had even though it cost him. And Jesus did not waver and say, wait, come back and let me give you another offer. No, Jesus held to His boundary as well.