Have you ever noticed that it is times when you are in your greatest need that you lean most heavily on God?  We may know that we should lean on Him always and we may even do well at that for a season.  Those times when we are at our end we seem to really rely upon God.  When we recognize that we are always in great need of God we tend to do better in our relationship with Him and with others.  Jesus has an encounter with a man who is interested in God but does not recognize his need for Him.  Let’s look at it together today.

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The man’s problem was not his wealth.  His problem was that he thought he was good enough for God on his own merit.  When Jesus asked him to sell what he had and follow Him it wasn’t about the money.  It was about what we rely upon.  Do we rely upon our own strength, wealth, power, and success?  Jesus’ point is that when we rely upon ourselves and do not recognize our need for God it truly is tough to find Him.  May God give us all a fresh sense of our need for Him so that we may rely upon Him every day!