All of us have gone to the doctor for a check-up, right? In

that check-up, the doctor checks our reflexes, our weight,

our height, and then he gets a tool called a stethoscope and

presses it on our skin and checks our heart for irregularities.

This check is in place to alarm us of any concerns, pitfalls,

and anything we need to watch for. Today, I believe God is

that doctor, and he is going to do a check-up on all of us.

This passage is not about Being rich or being wealthy. This passage is

about living according to your will, instead of God’s will. There is so

many things that will tie us down and keep us from serving God.

Which will you serve? His or yours? It is not about following rules. It

is about a heart that belongs to the God whom you say you serve. See

on the outside he looked like a believer, he acted like a believer, he

knew all the Christian things to say, he knew how to be churchy but

his heart belongs to his possessions. His possessions became his god.

GOD is NOT looking for churchy people.

Is your attention on resources when it should be on the source?

- I believe today that God wants us to focus on our hearts and minds and

our spirits on him alone. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have things, I

like having nice things as well but if your heart and mind belongs to

those things instead of God, it’s time to do a heart check!

- This young man was not willing to do a heart check. He left his

eternity at the door when he turned his back on Christ and walked away.

Instead of walking away from his possessions.

- This man lost himself in possessions, instead of losing himself in

Christ, the one that possesses all things.

Let me ask you a question Are you willing to walk away from your

old life for a life that follows Christ? And if you’re already following

Christ like he was saying, Are you willing to walk away from

everything that you have to give your life to the gospel? If you’re not,

it’s time to do a heart check and be honest with yourself.

After the young man storms oﬀ disheartened by JESUS’ word

he uses this as a teaching moment for the disciples.

The hardest thing to see is ourselves and it takes someone that

loves us enough to tell us even when we don’t want to her. Jesus

was that person for both the ruler but also Saul aka Paul. The

purpose was not to tell them oﬀ but to bring them back to their

true identity, to bring them into righteousness. Separation from

sin and into light 💡

- In Acts 9 The bible tells of an enemy of GOD, who GOD

confronted and turned to a son, an instrument of unity, an

instrument of change.

- This young man, and even Paul they spent so much time

following the rules that they forgot the purpose. And that was

to love. To Love GOD with all that heart, soul and all their

mind and all that spirit. The reason this is a requirement is so

that we become like him. Meaning you and I reflect him. They

only Embrace and embody the rules, they never embody

Christ who gives us breath.

- So often we embody the wrong stuﬀ. This is why Jesus told

this young man look you’ve done all these great things now

let’s see if your heart is really mine. Because it appears that it’s

all about stuﬀ.