Scripture Scribbles: October 10, 2021

the Gospel

Mark 10 : 17-30

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,

knelt down before him, and asked him,

"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?

No one is good but God alone.

You know the commandments: You shall not kill;

you shall not commit adultery;

you shall not steal;

you shall not bear false witness;

you shall not defraud;

honor your father and your mother."

He replied and said to him,

"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,

"You are lacking in one thing.

Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

At that statement his face fell,

and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,

"How hard it is for those who have wealth

to enter the kingdom of God!"

The disciples were amazed at his words.

So Jesus again said to them in reply,

"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,

"Then who can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said,

"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.

All things are possible for God."

Peter began to say to him,

"We have given up everything and followed you."

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,

there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters

or mother or father or children or lands

for my sake and for the sake of the gospel

who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:

houses and brothers and sisters

and mothers and children and lands,

with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

the devotion

Childcare is really expensive.

My husband and I talk a lot about providing for our family. I was raised in a big loving family with so many good things. Wonderful homes, travel, music lessons, extracurriculars, cars and gas and I wonder how I will possibly do the same for my children. I feel guilty and frustrated by my failure to make and save more. I wonder if I will have to work forever. I feel a sense of scarcity and compare myself to others’ financial success.

And then He interrupts me with this. Literally, I’m in the middle of a prolonged anxiety spiral about working until I’m 90... and this is the Scripture that I hear everywhere I turn. At first, I just felt uneasy. Like I needed to pay attention but didn’t really want to. But He gently persisted.

Jesus, looking at him, loved him...

And I knew He was telling me He wanted to have the talk about money. This thing I haven’t given to Him. This thing I use as a measure for how intelligent, how capable, how desirable, how worthy I am. How I compare to others. How I please or disappoint myself, or my family. This metric for forecasting whether or not we will “be okay.” This thing I can count and control.

He asks, “Will you trust me with this?” And I feel a thrill of hope and promise of adventure. Will I? I wonder if I could. He reminds me that I am beloved, that He never lost sight of me in the crowd. And that He wants to heal the part of me that seeks to earn His love and attention. He reminds me that his love and my worth are unchangeable. He tells me I never had to worry about being “okay.” And that He wants so much more for me than that.

I will carry this for you, he says, but you have to let it go.
Jesus, looking at me, loved me and said, “Come, follow me.”

Today’s devotion was written by Lucia Parker.