Bible Readings

Job 23:1-9,16-17;  Psalm 22:1-15;  
Hebrews 4:12-16;  Mark 10:17-31

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

The rich man's story and Jesus' hyperbole remind us that all aspects of what it means to follow Jesus rankle our deeply ingrained instincts toward self-preservation and security. Jesus does not try to deprive the rich man of his money and power. He asks for more. He tries to claim the man's very own self.

Jesus does this, of course, out of love…

Here is a deeply religious person so well-attuned to his practices that he can sense that there is more out there than what he has experienced so far. He asks Jesus about the "more," but his question focuses on what needs to be added. He seeks the limit, or the next step, but discovers instead that eternal life entails the surrender of one's whole self.

Matt Skinner Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=402

Devotional Prayer

Lord, make us free... free with eyes not focused upon ourselves; free with ears open to hearing Your Word; free with hands reaching out; free with hearts no longer chained by what we possess, but bound, instead, by what we can share.
Yes, Lord, make us free... free to worship; free to be extravagant with thankfulness; free to break open the most costly oil upon Your feet; free to love as love really is, In Jesus' name. Amen