SIN or GOD - THE CHOICE IS YOURS
A reflection on Mark 10:17-31 by RoseMary Joy
THE RICH MAN
One day, a man approached Jesus and asked him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him that he should obey the Commandments. The man said to Jesus, “I’ve obeyed them ever since I was young.” Jesus looked lovingly at the man and told him, “There is something stopping you from going to Heaven. Go and sell all that you own and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then, come and follow me.” On hearing this, the man’s face fell, because he was a very wealthy man.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT
This does not sound easy. Is Jesus asking us to sell all our possessions and give our money away to help the poor? No, we have to be generous and share our resources and our time with the poor but Jesus knew that this young man was being held back by his love of money. So He asked him to choose which was more important to him, his wealth or his everlasting happiness.
OUR CHOICE
We also have to choose what is important in our lives. Do we want to follow Jesus or chase after material things? Choosing Jesus doesn’t mean that we can’t have fun. No, life is so much more joyful with Jesus rather than without Him. If you think about it, God is the creator of all human emotions, and He knows best how we can find the happiness and excitement that we crave so much?
A HELPER
It takes a lot of sacrifice and strong will to be able to say to yourself and those around you, “I choose Christ over everything else.” But the Holy Spirit is our strength and guide who will help us to stay strong and fight temptation. When we choose to follow Christ, we can wake up every morning with a smile on our face because we know that we’re going to spend another amazing day in His presence. When our life revolves around Jesus, He will bless us with so much joy and peace of mind that we will not be able to imagine a day without Him. Submitting our lives to the Lord will bless us in ways that far exceed our expectations.
FREE WILL
Jesus loves us and wants to have a relationship with each one of us but He will not force Himself on anyone. He gave the rich young man a choice and He respects our free will to choose or reject Him. St Teresa of Avila said, “Christ does not force our will, He takes only what we give him. But he does not give himself entirely until he sees that we yield ourselves completely to Him.” So, it’s really up to us whether we choose to give our whole heart to God or just give him a part of it. “Am I now currying favour with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)
OUR REWARD
To be a true follower of Christ in a society that takes pride in sinfulness and impurity is not easy. But, remember that self-denial
and sacrifice are the narrow paths filled with stones and thorns that will lead us to the beautiful gates of Heaven. In Paradise all the suffering that we endured on earth will melt away into sheer joy, in the presence of the Alpha and the Omega, the One who loves us so much that He humbled Himself to die for us. Can anything we ever give up for God, even begin to repay the smallest fraction of what he has done for us? He gave us life, He set us free, He made us His very own.
CHOOSE TODAY
It doesn’t matter to God how messed up our past may be; He is giving us the chance at this very moment to start afresh. No sin that we’ve committed can hinder our journey towards Heaven, as long as we are truly sorry for what we’ve done. Jesus is always waiting for us to come back to Him, not with anger or punishment, but with outstretched arms; the same arms that were nailed to the cross on which He died for love of us. It was love, not nails that held Jesus to the cross. Let’s choose today to turn back to Him with our whole hearts.
