URC Daily Devotion 10 February 2026
St Matthew 19: 16 – 29
Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honour your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Reflection
Which one of these do you think you would find it harder to do – keep the commandments or sell your possessions and give the money to the poor? The young man who approached Jesus was confident that he had kept all the commandments, but baulked at the prospect of selling his possessions for the benefit of the poor.
Surely he was overconfident in claiming to keep all the commandments. Who does that all of the time – not me for sure. As for selling my possessions and giving my money to the poor, I do my best to be intentional and generous in charitable giving, but Jesus asks for much more than that.
If keeping the commandments and/or selling my possessions and giving the money to the poor is the minimum requirement for me to obtain eternal life then I’m sunk. I don’t have it in me to do either. As Jesus would put it, I’m a camel trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle.
If someone like me, who has already been visibly blessed by God with riches in this life, can’t make it into the kingdom of heaven, then as astounded disciples put it, ‘who can be saved?’ And Jesus’s answer is that no one can. No mere mortal like me (or you) can make this happen. It’s impossible, unless, of course, God chooses to make it possible.
Jesus goes on to talk about God making the impossible possible for those same astounded disciples, saying that they will ‘inherit eternal life.’ That won’t happen because they have cracked keeping all the commandments, though, nor because they have sold their possessions and given the money to the poor. It will happen because God has chosen to make it happen.
I need to relax. God’s ready, willing and able to squeeze me into the kingdom of heaven, somehow and somewhere. And for that I should give thanks, with keeping commandments and generosity to the poor being good ways to do so.
Prayer
Dear God, please do the impossible, and squeeze me into your kingdom of heaven.
Amen.