Love Like Jesus: 7 Day Easter DevotionalSample

In Mark 10, we see Jesus’ love for a young man who, by all external measures, perfectly fulfilled the law of Moses: he obeyed and honored his parents; he was honest in his business transactions; he was truthful in his testimony; he was pure in his relationships. 

Any parent would be thrilled to have their child grow up and become an upstanding citizen in society as this young man had become. So, at first, Jesus’ demand to sell all he had seems unfair. After all, this man was doing pretty well, wasn’t he? Why place this undue burden on him, especially when He hadn’t asked the same of other rich disciples, like Matthew, Zacchaeus, and Nicodemus?

Externally, he seemed perfect. Internally, he was wrestling with greed and idolatry, and these sins were threatening to suffocate the life out of him—and to keep him from finding eternal life in Jesus. Moved with compassion, Jesus clearly articulates the unspoken sins that overrun this young man’s heart and calls him out, not to shame him, but to invite him to a life of true fruitfulness.

Jesus’ good seed cannot grow roots and bear fruit in a heart that is suffocated by the weeds of the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for more and more stuff (see Mark 4:19). It would be callous and unloving of Jesus to allow those sins to continue growing; it is His love that compels Him to reach in and yank them out by the roots, allowing the soil of our hearts to remain receptive to His Word and to produce a crop that’s a hundredfold. If only we’d let Him. 

But repentance was too much of a sacrifice for this man. Jesus’ intuition was spot-on, and the rich young man went away sad. Forced to choose between money and Jesus, he had chosen money. Jesus had seen him. Jesus knew him. And Jesus had lovingly called him to a richer life. But he wouldn’t have it.

Challenge: Take a few minutes today to pray and ask God to reveal any weeds growing in your own heart. Whether it’s money, status, food, family, shopping, social media, or something else, confess those sins of idolatry and ask Him to make your heart tender toward Him, receptive to His Word, and fruitful in the harvest of His love.