Do You Love Jesus More Than Anything?

This week, I once again read a scripture that changed my life years ago. It’s the story of the rich young ruler found in Matthew 19:16-22.

If you aren’t familiar with the story, this rich young ruler approaches Jesus and asks Him what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus responds by telling him to keep the commandments. He even names a few of them.

The rich young ruler quickly responds, saying, “All these I have kept, what do I still lack?” Jesus then responds saying, “go, sell your possessions and give to the poor….then come, follow me.”

And after Jesus said these things the Bible says the man “went away sad, because he had great wealth.” This rich young ruler walked away because he loved his money more than Jesus.

When I read this scripture years ago, I remember thinking: Is there anything Jesus could ask me to give up that would cause me to walk away sad? Is there anything in my life that I have come to love more than Jesus?

The interesting thing is that this rich young ruler failed to realize he wasn’t even keeping the first commandment. “You shall have no other gods before me (God)” is the first commandment. Money had become this man’s god and he had put it before the Lord.

Are there things that we have allowed to become our gods? Are there things in our lives that we love more than Jesus? God’s desire is that He would be first in our lives. As I mentioned earlier, this section of scripture changed my life. It forced me to think about my love for Jesus and ask those difficult questions. What about you? Do these scriptures challenge you? Do you love Jesus more than anything?