Which Ones?

Which Ones?

“Now behold, one came and said to Him, ‘Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?’ So He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to Him, ‘Which ones?’ Matthew 19:16-18

Which ones? I have read this Scripture many times but I never saw the rich man’s question to Jesus until yesterday. ‘If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments’. ‘Which ones?’ What a silly question. Which ones? If we can pick and choose which commandments to obey then they are not commandments, they are suggestions. A commandment is something that is commanded, that is, an authoritative direction, a required action, a non-negotiable.
Before we laugh too hard at the silliness of this man’s question, we need to stop and reflect how our attitude betrays the same question.
In reality, don’t we pick and choose which commandments we are going to obey? Oh, sure, we may not be consciously asking ourselves the question but the way we live our life betrays a heart that wonders, “Which ones?”
I may not consider stealing from a store, but do I steal time at work doing personal things? I may not physically harm my children, but do I harm them with my words or attitude? I may not be willing to lie, but do I leave out some details so as to leave a less than accurate impression? I may not be willing to miss church on Sunday, but do I watch more TV during the week than I spend reading God’s word?
Lest I leave the impression that it is keeping all of God’s commandments that gains us eternal life, Jesus also told the young man to “…come, follow Me.” (vs. 21) It is only God’s grace through faith that any are saved. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Eph 2:8-9.

May the evidence of our life not reflect a “Which ones?” attitude but rather that we are fully devoted to the One True God and earnestly yearn to obey Him.

Diane