Praise
Sometimes we just want to be praised.
Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way. Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these; what do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions. - Matthew 19:13-22
The children were being brought to Jesus so he could lay hands on them and pray for them. The man who came had a different agenda in mind.
What was he looking for?
He believed he was righteous, having kept the commandments all his life, so it seems like he was just looking for validation from Jesus that he was a righteous man.
We all like praise when we do a good job, so who wouldn't want to hear Jesus acknowledge it?
But Jesus raises the bar. If you are doing all the right things, what else could you be doing Obviously the man wants to do more, or he wouldn't be asking, right?
I think we each have potential to do more than we are comfortable doing. What sacrifice is there in doing what we can do easily? We need to have a stretch goal.
It's like exercise. It really doesn't do anything for us unless it pushes the limits. That's what our faith pushes us to do.
When we ask God for help, we have to be prepared to offer something of ourselves. It isn't required, but it shows we are serious. And if we are looking for praise, then we better be ready to give it our all.
Jesus expects us to be all in. So, if we aren't, we shouldn't ask Him to validate our righteousness.
More to come...