The rich young ruler (3) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

He answered and said to him, Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth. Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him.
Mark 10:20.21

The rich young ruler (3)
The young man had assumed that there was good in mankind; so he asked what he should do to obtain eternal life. Because he based the reception of eternal life on human activity, the Lord reminded him of the ten commandments: "Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honour your father and your mother." The young man answered, "All these things I have kept from my youth." (Can any­one truly assert such a thing without blushing?)

This reply shows that the young man had not grasped what the Lord wished to make him understand. It is true that he no longer addressed Christ as "Good Teacher", but he still insisted on his upright manner of life. Hadn't he good reason to in certain respects? There must have been something attractive about the young man, for the Lord looked on him and loved him.

An honest way of life is not be disdained. On the contrary! Yet we cannot attain heaven on that basis. Whoever trusts in his own integrity will discover that that very sense of uprightness has become self-righteousness, which bars the way to heaven instead of opening it up. How could that young man, how can honest persons today learn that, in spite of everything, they are sinners who cannot rest on their own deeds but need redemption? How did the Lord Jesus answer the rich young ruler to convince him of his need?

(to be continued on Monday)

Today's reading: Joshua 22:11-34 · 1 Corinthians 15:20-34