January 11 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Luke 18:18-27:

¹⁸And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
¹⁹And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
²⁰Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
²¹And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
²²Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
²³And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
²⁴And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
²⁶And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?
²⁷And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

Devotional

It was hard for the rich young ruler to obey our Lord's command to sell his possessions and give to the poor. He was very sorrowful when our Lord asked him to part with his wealth. He was unwilling to set his affections completely on things above. Where his treasure was, there his heart was also.

Our Lord, seeing that the young ruler was very sorrowful, remarked about the difficulty that those who possess riches have in entering the kingdom of God. There is a great temptation to put one's trust in wealth - or for that matter in any valued possession or gift. The disciples thereupon asked, "Who then can be saved?" And our Redeemer answered, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."

For fallen men, whether rich or poor, salvation would be impossible - impossible if it depended on men. Lost and dead in their trespasses and sins, they would not receive the things of the Spirit of God, and they would continue to put their trust in vanities. But what is impossible with men is possible with God. No man can save himself, but God can save him. God can save rich or poor. God saved the rich Zacchaeus, and God saved the beggar Bartimaeus. God can give new hearts to corrupt sinners and enable them to trust not in themselves but in Him. God can bring the spiritually dead to life. Salvation is and always has been, of Him-completely of Him, the gift of His grace and the work of His power. What is impossible with men is possible with our mighty, sovereign, and loving triune God!

Welcome to "Think on These Things," a twelve-week daily devotional prepared by the late Dr. John H. Skilton, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and for many years Chairman of the New Testament Department at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.

We are indebted to P & R Publishing and Skilton House Ministries for permission to use this copyrighted material on the OPC Web site. (P & R held the copyright from 1975 to 2005, at which time they reassigned the copyright to Skilton House.)