Mark 10
17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
When Jesus looked at this man, he knew that this young man had spoken the truth.
However, something was missing. This young man wanted eternal life. That’s what we call spirit.
His spirit is aware of eternity. Through his spirit, he knows that God exists and that he must have eternal life. So he came to Jesus, who is Life.
Mark 10
21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; Then come and follow me.
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
This young man had many possessions = equipment.
And what manages material things is the heart.
His heart is happy to have the material, because he knows that whoever has the material is respected. This young man’s heart wasn’t ready to let that go.
Beloved, if we have the desires of the things of this world, we will never be satisfied. Because the heart comes from God and is supposed to love the things of God. So the heart can only be satisfied in God.
That’s why someone who earns $5,000 will be happy at first, but after a while, he’ll want $10,000. He who has 10 clothes, will want 15 and so on…for the heart can never be satisfied with the things of the world.
The spirit and heart must seek the things of God. Both are spiritual and content with the things of God.
In the heart of a person who loves perverse things, if it’s a man, he’ll go from woman to woman without ever being satisfied. If a person has a spirit of gluttony, he’ll eat and never be satisfied…
The Christian must be wise: God’s way is the way of wisdom.
The day the Lord gives you a home, you give Him glory and must continue to seek His face. Your priority must be God.
And if, along the way, God gives you a second home, you continue to give Him thanks without attaching your heart to it.
The heart must love God.
Mark 12.30 And You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
When the spirit loves God but the heart loves the things of the world, it will be difficult for that person to keep God’s word. When there are worldly worries, anxieties, fear, jealousy, frustration…the heart will have no peace, the memory of the heart cannot keep the Word. The person will have no strength to practice the Word.
Mark 10
21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; Then come and follow me.
When Jesus spoke to the young man, he had the choice of making the decision with his spirit, but he didn’t.
Is it often easy?
No, because of the love of riches that is already in his heart. And probably, he’s already got the honors, the esteem of the people around him and he’s already tasted the pleasure of having money to do what he wants… So, it’s not easy.
That’s why God says in Luke 9.23 Then he said to everyone: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Beloved, you need to look in your heart at what you love so much and which may be a problem, so that you can give it up.
Consider this:
If someone suggests on a Sunday that you don’t go to church, then you’ll receive $1 million, just that Sunday.
What will you do? Your heart may say to you: “All your life you’ll never have this money, it’ll help you accomplish so many things…”.
Each of us must master our heart and turn it toward God. Proverbs 23.26.
If you have the love of money, the lust of the eyes, of the flesh and the pride of life … in your heart, you won’t want to go to church anymore.
Because in your heart, there are desires that have accumulated over time, your own unfulfilled plans, but which are not God’s plans. And some projects in your heart, are created by :
The lust of your eyes – because your neighbor has, you want to have and since that is inscribed in your heart ;
The lust of the flesh – you can do many things with this money;
And the pride of life – you’re going to say ‘from now on people will respect me too if I have this money, I can buy what I want, they’ll consider me in the neighborhood, in my family…
So all these desires will push you to take the money and not go to church without even looking to see if Jesus was coming back that day. Because of the flesh in the heart, and all the while, your spirit will be suffering.
These are all activities of the mind and heart.
James 1
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
What is temptation?
In this world, there are relationships: you want to be like the other person, you want to succeed more than the other person, you want to have this or that equipment… Which means that the heart is constantly in a system of temptation.
Whoever doesn’t learn to live in the spirit won’t be able to love God as God wants.
Whoever does not seek to love God with all his heart and walk in the Spirit, the desires of his heart will prevent him from walking with God.
So we must learn to live in the spirit and hope in the promises of Christ. That’s how we’ll receive the crown of life.
James 1
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Where is the lust? In the heart. Desires for the things of the world. And it’s all the devil who drives mankind to these desires, so that all may be lost.
James 1
15 Then lust, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, being consummated, produces death.
When the soul is dead, the spirit can do nothing but go into death too.
When a person converts, it seems difficult. But what makes it difficult is the battle between spirit and soul. For the spirit seeks the things of God but the soul the things of the world.
For example:
If you get up on Sunday to go to church or during the week to go to work, but you dress to impress your brother or sister, your colleagues, you’re already in the wrong.
Jesus said you seek the glory of men, that’s why you have problems. I seek the glory of God.
What should we do?
We must constantly search our hearts. Because of selfishness, and everything else that can be found in the heart.
So whatever I do, I have to ask myself: “Is it for God or for man? When it comes to the car I want to buy, the house, or anything else.
Beloved, we must do all things for God.
Colossians 3.23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.
The heart must be constantly involved in the things of God.
For the young man, the love of riches in his heart prevented him from having eternal life.
Others don’t have this equipment yet, but they want it, and it keeps them from seeking God properly.
They don’t have them yet, but if they do, what’s going to happen?
Without materials, they don’t seek God, so how much better will it be if they receive these things? No.
That’s why for some prayers, God is still waiting. Because they are linked to attachment to material things, He wants the heart to be delivered, for there to be a transformation, for the Word to be in the heart, for the heart to be committed to Him…
The one who seeks God with all his heart and perseveres is the one whom the Lord baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. For when God gives him spiritual gifts, he will keep them because his heart is not for the world, and the Holy Spirit will be able to use him all his life.