The rich young ruler

“All these I have kept”, the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Matthew 19:20
In Matt. 19:16-22 we see the dialogue between Jesus and a rich young man, who came to Jesus asking, “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matt. 19:16). Jesus knew what was in the man’s heart, of course, just as He knew what was in everyone’s heart (John 2:25). So He leads him along a path of self-examination. First He says, “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments” (Matt. 19:17). The man asks, “Which ones?” Jesus responds by quoting some of the Ten Commandments, and it’s interesting to note the commandments that He lists: Do not murder (6th commandment), do not steal (8th commandment), do not give false testimony (9th commandment), honour your father and mother (5th commandment), and love your neighbour as yourself (which He said was the second most important commandment, after ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ (see Matt. 22:37-39).
But then the man replied, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” He knew that he still lacked something, and he believed that Jesus had it. Then Jesus responded by challenging him to sell everything he had and give to the poor, then to follow Him (Matt. 19:21). He is touching on the 10th commandment: you shall not covet. This was something the man could not let go of, and he went away sad (Matt. 19:22).
There are several lessons here for us. Firstly, if you know that you are lacking something, you should come to Jesus. He will meet your needs – especially your spiritual needs. Secondly, it is possible to covet your own wealth. It’s human nature to want to get what we can, and can what we get – not sharing it with anyone else. But God commands us to be generous with everyone (1 Tim. 6:18, Prov. 11:25). After all, everything we have belongs to Him anyway. It’s wrong for us to try and keep it all for ourselves.