Loving God Wholeheartedly

From Charisse, LTW Research contributor:

"A ruler questioned Him, saying, 'Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.' And he said, 'All these things I have kept from my youth.' When Jesus heard this, He said to him, 'One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, 'How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!'" Luke 18:18-24

Jesus started listing the 10 commandments from the middle moving to the end. Interestingly, not speaking the first several commandments [which are] "'You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,...'" Deuteronomy 5:7-9

Why? Because the young man would not have recognized his failure to obey the commandments unless it was demonstrated by his unwillingness to let go of his god of money and possessions. This gave me pause to check my own willingness to let go of anything that would hinder me from loving God wholeheartedly.