People long for riches and joy in their lives. They study. They work hard. They save and invest. They try to marry well. They buy good houses, nice cars. They try to overcome bad habits.

They also fall for get-rich-quick schemes, quack medical cures, and government lottery advertisements.

Jesus turns all this on its head – and then tells us how to find true riches and true joy. Let’s delve into what He says in chapter 10 of Mark’s gospel.

A rich young man has just approached Jesus, asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him to obey the commandments, which he claims to have done. Jesus looks at him, loves him, and tells him to go, sell all he has, give the proceeds to the poor, and to come and follow Him. But the man goes away sorrowful, because he has great possessions (Mark 10:17-22).

Material riches were not the way to joy for this young man. Indeed, they were not even true riches.

Jesus then says, “How hard it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23).

In virtually every culture, the rich are looked up to, are seen as lucky or blessed by God, and most people desire to be rich. But Jesus says we are to pity them, for it is impossible for them to enter the kingdom of God.

Why do riches make entering the kingdom of God so difficult?

The most important barrier for entering the kingdom is the illusion of control provided by wealth. Poor people in poor countries (including all countries in the ancient world) acknowledge that they are at the mercy of the elements. Illness, natural disasters, even a bad rainy season can mean suffering or death for members of the family. Today in the poorest countries about one child in five dies before age five; in the ancient world, those numbers were undoubtedly higher. So the poor know that they cannot control these powers that determine their fate.

On the other hand, the rich tend to think that they can protect themselves, that they can use their money and influence to make sure that they do not suffer. As Jesus relates in Luke 12:19, the rich fool says to himself, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ He thought he was in control; he thought he was now safe from the influence of random events. But that very night God took his life.

And who can fall prey to such an illusion of control? The great majority of Americans – including you and me. Put yourself in the position of those who are listening to Jesus say these words. How would they label someone who:

• Lives in a house with central heating and indoor plumbing;
• Has clean cold and hot water flowing through taps;
• Is in no danger of going hungry;
• Has more than 2 sets of clothes;
• Has access to cures for all of the most common diseases.

Imagine! Wouldn’t such a person be considered rich indeed? So in comparison to those listening to Jesus, we all undoubtedly are incredibly rich.

So Jesus’ warning is for us: How hard it is for us to enter the kingdom of God – because of our supposed self-sufficiency, our security.

Furthermore, possessions enslave us. We become used to our possessions; we start calling our desires “needs” – and then we won’t even consider following Jesus in a way that would lead to:

• A less prestigious job, or no job
• A lower salary, or no salary
• A smaller house, or no place at all to call home

We begin to require God to support us in the manner to which we have become accustomed.

Sometimes we justify this attitude by referring to our children: “I can’t do that; what would become of my children?” But what do our children need more than a parent who follows Jesus, wherever He may lead?

Ray Stedman uses an apt phrase to describe our condition, saying we are “addicted to comfort and ease.”

So if we are addicted to comfort and ease, if we depend on riches, if we find our security there instead of in our relationship to God – mightn’t Jesus be saying to us what He said to the rich young man: “Give up what you are addicted to! Come, follow Me!”

What happens if you hear that, and do it? Do you lose security? Do you lose out on joy? This brings us to Mark 10:28-31:

Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. “But many who are first, will be last; and the last, first.” (NASB)

Focus on these profound statements. Meditate on them. Pore over them. Let them sink into you.

• No one.
• Who has left anything, anything material or relational.
• For what reason? Not to make oneself look good, or to win applause, but for Jesus’ sake and for the gospel.
• Who will not have how much? One hundred times as much! Listen, this isn’t the 25% annual return you might get for a few years in a booming stock market: the promise is that you will get one hundred times as much.
• When? When will we get this? In heaven, after we die? No! We will get one hundred times as much NOW! In the present age!
• Is that all? No, plus you will have eternal life, what the rich young man wanted all along.

Jesus says in effect, “Whatever you give up for me now, you will receive one hundred times as much now – and billions times as much in the age to come.”

I think we expect Jesus to make the eschatological promise, the promise of future joy in eternity with Him. We don’t comprehend all that entails, we certainly can’t grasp what that will be like, but we know that promise.

We know, furthermore, that we are better off risen with Christ than we can ever be in this life; as Paul says, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

The promise of eternal joy is great and precious. But Jesus promises more than that here. He says that whatever we give up, we will receive one hundred times more in the present age. What could He possibly mean by that?

Does He mean that if I give the church $4,000, I’ll get back $400,000? Some health, wealth, and prosperity preachers use these verses as a proof text for that idea. But clearly if that’s what Jesus meant, there was no reason for the rich young man to walk away. Jesus could simply have said, “Look, give all this away, and within a few years you’ll have one hundred times as much money, wealth, and prestige. That’s quite an investment!” Such a promise would appeal to his greed – the very problem he faced.

Part of the promise surely is that we have eternal life right now. We have “joy unspeakable” (1 Peter 1:8) because of our relationship to God; we have the love, joy, and peace the world longs for because the Spirit dwells in us. We have a true intimacy, a true fellowship with one another because He has made us brothers and sisters in Him. All this is much more valuable than anything we may give up.

But Jesus’ statement can’t mean only that our brothers and sisters multiply in the family of God, for He includes material goods in His promise: farms and houses.

This is what Jesus is saying; this is the key truth we need to take to heart: If you give all you have to the Lord, you will receive one hundred times more joy and pleasure from the material possessions you have than you would have received from the entire hoard if you had given nothing away.

Think about that statement. Some of you might be thinking, “Oh, is that all He means? I thought by giving I was going to get more!”

You are going to get more – more of what you really want! Why do we want possessions anyway? Because of the joy, pleasure, and security they give us, right? God promises us complete security; nothing can harm us until we have completed His calling on us in this world, and then we will be received by Him with great rejoicing. And in this life, He promises us the joy and pleasure we really want, that we try to get from hoarding possessions.

Why will we get more joy and pleasure from a few possessions when we follow Jesus, than we would get from vast hoards of possessions if we don’t follow Him? Consider these reasons:

(1) Our possessions can easily become our master. We worry about losing them, we devote time and energy to amassing them, and, in the end, they can make us miserable. Many wealthy men have been among the most miserable who ever lived.

(2) Even more importantly, we now enjoy what we have because we know it is all a gift from someone who loves us dearly. Think, now: What possessions do you value most? For many of us, we value most not the expensive item we bought for ourselves, but some little trifle that was given to us by a loved one. Perhaps a picture drawn by a three-year-old, perhaps a ring, or necklace, or a letter from your husband; perhaps the gift your parents gave you when you left home. These may not be worth much monetarily, but they are most valuable because they represent the love of another.

The Christian knows that everything we own is a gift from the One who loves us more than we can imagine. So even a few possessions can generate in our hearts unspeakable joy, because they all represent His love. So instead of considering these possessions as things we’ve earned, as things we deserve, we consider everything a special gift of love from the King of the Universe. We deserve nothing – rather, we deserve eternal punishment in hell — yet look what He gives us! Air to breath, warmth at night, food to eat, covering for our bodies! Every minute we live, then, we can thank God for His great mercy, for the love He shows us in everything that we used to take for granted.

Everything around us tempts us to pursue a type of life that, in the end, will never satisfy. Jesus calls us to give up that false life so that we might find true life, true joy, true love in a relationship with Him. And when we do that, we find that we now have all the love, joy, peace, and security that we used to seek through the ways of the world – at least 100 times as much as we had before. And our hearts are overflowing in thanks and praise to the One who gives us so much that we don’t deserve.

There is one note of discord in Jesus’ statement, however. He says this gift of 100 times as much as we give up will be accompanied by persecutions. Why does He say this? How is it consistent with a life of love, joy, and peace?

Paul writes 2nd Timothy shortly before his death. In chapter 4 he writes: ‘I am already being poured out as a drink offering” – an apt figure for one who would be beheaded. But then later in the chapter he writes, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack” (2 Timothy 4:18). Paul writes this even though he knows he will be executed. The inescapable conclusion: His execution is not an evil attack.

Just so with us:

• When it is for our good and His glory, he lavishes safety and relationships and possessions and worldly success on us.
• When it is for our good and His glory, he lavishes persecutions and trials and troubles on us.
• When it is for our good and His glory he lavishes physical death on us.

God constantly uses what men intend for evil for His own good purposes. Whatever happens, He is in control; His purposes are beyond us, but He is always good, and always wise.

So this is Jesus’ command to us: Lose your false life; give it up. Yield all your plans, all your earthly desires, all your security to Him. Lose your life for Jesus, for the gospel. Then step forward – knowing that God will be with you. You will face trial, troubles, and tribulations. But amidst all that, He will give you a joy beyond measure even in this life, as you overflow with thanksgiving for the uncountable good gifts, the true riches, He gives you daily. So follow Him – and find true riches and joy.

[This devotion is an edited version of part of this sermon preached in 1999.]