Read: Mark 10:17–27
Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” He told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
He ran up to Jesus—eager, sincere, and full of questions. That urgency alone says a lot!
Jesus looked at him with love and reminded him of the commandments. The man nodded. He had kept them all since childhood. But Jesus saw something deeper—something the young ruler hadn’t noticed in himself.
Jesus said to him, “You’re still holding on.”
It wasn’t really about the young ruler’s money. It was about what the money represented: security, comfort, identity. Jesus wasn’t trying to punish him when he asked him to let go—he was invited into something better. But the man walked away from Jesus with sadness. He wanted to follow him, just not at that cost.
We all have something that’s hard to let go of—a plan, a title, a relationship, a lifestyle. Something tied too closely to who we are. And when Jesus gently puts his finger on it, we face a choice.
Today, ask honestly: What am I holding onto that keeps me from fully following Jesus? What am I afraid to release? Then, let him speak to it, and trust that whatever he asks you to lay down is only so he can hand you something better.