What Jesus Did! 'Just One Thing!' — Luke 18:22-23

Monday, October 26, 2015

When Jesus heard this, he said to the leader, "But there is still one more thing you need to do. Sell everything you have and give the money to the poor people. You will have a reward in heaven. Then come and follow me!" But when the man heard this, he was very sad. The man was very rich {and wanted to keep his money.}
— Luke 18:22-23
Illustration of Luke 18:22-23 — "But there is still one more thing you need to do. Sell everything you have and give the money to the poor people. You will have a reward in heaven. Then come and follow me!"

Key Thought

Our one thing can be awfully huge. For the rich young man, the one thing Jesus called him to surrender was huge. Clearly, this story impacts us at two levels. It calls us to be generous and understand the heart of God toward us and others. However, it also asks us to look at our life circumstances and determine what the one thing most difficult for us to give up for Jesus would be. Then it calls us to give it up. So the message for you and me, dear friend, is this: that we must be generous and we must not let anything interfere with our wholehearted devotion to the Lord Jesus.

Today's Prayer

Dear Father in heaven, please never, ever, let anything crowd into my heart and become a rivalry to your Son. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

A {Jewish} leader asked Jesus, "Good teacher, what must I do to get the life that continues forever?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? Only God is good. {But I will answer your question.} You know {God's} commands: 'You must not do the sin of adultery, you must not murder anyone, you must not steal anything, you must not tell lies about other people, you must honor (respect) your father and mother

Luke 18:18-30

Related Scripture Readings

Then a teacher of the law stood up. He was trying to test Jesus. He said, "Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you understand from it?" The man answered, "'You must love the Lord your God. You must love him with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' Also, 'You must love other people the same as you love yourself.' "

Luke 10:25-27

So brothers and sisters, I beg you to do something. God has shown us great mercy. So offer your lives as a living sacrifice to God. Your offering must be only for God and will be pleasing to him. This offering of yourselves is the spiritual way for you to worship (serve) God. Don't change yourselves to be like the people of this world. But let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what things are good and pleasing to God and what things are perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

It is the same for each of you. You must decide if you can leave everything you have to follow me. If not, you cannot be my follower!

Luke 14:33

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About This Devotional

What Jesus Did is a one-year devotional guide through the gospels, using one short passage each day and following the Gospel in consecutive order. Each devotional consists of a passage, reflection and a prayer which opens up the day's scripture and shows how it challenges you to live for Jesus.

What Jesus Did! is written by Phil Ware.

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.

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