The young guy who asked this question had a lot going for him. He was flash, probably wore a Calvin Klein loin cloth and drove a fuel injected camel! ‘…what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He enquired. You kinda get the feeling that he thought he could get eternal life the way he’d got everything else in life – by self-effort. 

So when Jesus replied, ‘…sell all that you possess… he became very sad, for he was extremely rich’ (Luke 18:22-23 NAS). If he was expecting to buy his way into heaven, he was wrong. The apostle Paul says, ‘…what the law was powerless to do…God did by sending his own Son…’ (Romans 8:3). God would have to be really mean to sell salvation just to those who can afford it! Even then, how could any of us, even Bill Gates, possibly pay the price? 

Just as you wouldn’t impress the space-shuttle crew with your paper aeroplane, or you wouldn’t display your crayon sketches before Picasso, nothing you can do will qualify you for heaven. Eternal life costs more than you can afford. That’s why the only CV you need is Christ’s Victory! Money wasn’t this man’s problem, self-sufficiency was. It wasn’t his big income, it was his big ego! And it’s not just the wealthy who have difficulty grasping this; so do the educated, the strong, the good-looking, the popular, even the religious. 

To receive salvation you must first declare that you’re spiritually bankrupt; that your cupboard is bare, your reputation worthless, and your options gone. You can’t approach God demanding justice – you can only come pleading mercy. So come to Him today!

In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me:

"Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face."

(Many of the reflections on each page are used with the kind permission of United Christian Broadcastors (UCB) from their FREE daily devotional - The Word for Today. They allow the publication of 52 of their passages per year and I find their messages apt and though-provoking for the times we live in.)

A Circle of Prayer around the world praying for and with each other, for peace and for a world in crisis. Please read more about it and perhaps join us, prayer was never more needed than it is in these times!

Praying all year round for the souls of our deceased relatives and friends, for the souls of those most in need of prayer and for those souls in purgatory who have nobody to pray for them.