St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 17a, What is good?

Our paragraph topic is:(The rich young man speaks to Jesus ) Part 1.

And behold a certain man came to Christ with a question.  He wanted to know what was good.  He wanted to know what was acceptable.  He wanted to know what he had to do to enter the kingdom of heaven.  He had heard of the miracles performed by Christ.  He had heard of the words spoken by Christ.  He had understood the meaning of those words but he wanted to be certain of those words and not just depend on the hearsay as passed down from those who carried the word.

So his curiosity led him to find Christ.  For he figured that Christ had to be a good man.  He figured that Christ had to be a just man.  He figured that Christ had to be a religious man who would tell him what was right and good.  So he sought him out that he may get the true words directly from Christ himself.  And he believed that he would get the truth from such a good man as Christ.  But underneath his question, hidden in the back recesses of his mind was that lingering question, the question of good and right.  And Christ spoke to that question.  He said to him, "Why dost thou ask me about what is good?

What is good?  What is bad?  What is right?  What is wrong?  Do we know good from bad?  Do we know what is right or what is wrong?  Can we determine for ourselves what is good or what is bad, what is right or what is wrong?  We are the ones who must live by what is good or what is bad.  We are the ones who must abide by what is right or what is wrong.  Are we to make these determinations for ourselves?  Are we to abide by our own determinations of these boundaries?  It would seem so in the world that we live in today.

We are brought into a world that has existed from the past.  And with that existence are the things that are given to us as what is right and what is wrong.  God our Father gave us rules to live by.  He gave us boundaries to abide within.  He helped us to know what is right and what is wrong according to his wisdom and knowledge.  He has given us free will to choose.  He has not dictated to us that we should follow his commandments but allows us to make our own decisions.  And our decisions are influenced by the evil that exists in the world today.  So we are given the rules that are created by the world that we live in and they are handed down to us by those who have made those decisions for us.  Yet we have within us the truth and the knowledge of the father.

So what is good?  What is right?  What is wrong?  And what is bad?  The decision is ours to make.  If we choose, we can know the answer to these questions.  If we choose we can have the knowledge to discern these answers.  If we desire with our hearts, we are able to know what is good, what is right, what is bad and what is wrong.  For Christ came that we would know.  He came that we would see.  He came that we would understand the truth of who we are in God our Father through his sacrifice.  We are created in his image and his likeness.  God our Father is good.  He is kind.  He is merciful.  He is forgiving.  He is loving.  He is full of all grace and glory.  And it is from his gifts that we receive our goodness, our mercy, our forgiveness, and our love.  The choice is ours for the taking.  The belief is ours to believe.  The knowledge is ours for the knowing.  The love is ours to be loved, if we open our hearts and receive it from the one who gives it freely.  Open your heart and know the love that fulfills all desires.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in.

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 16, The Good Master.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The rich young man speaks to Jesus )
Part 1.

Our scripture journey skips and takes us to another time and place.  We left Christ where he laid hands on the children and prayed over them.  He departed from that place and moved on to another.  It is in this place where he encounters a young man that has heard of him through the word.  The word traveled.  The word was with the people.  The word was with the rulers, the wealthy, the soldiers, the merchants, the word was with everyone.  The people spoke it.  They heard it.  They marveled at it.  And it spread from one mouth to one ear to another mouth and so on.

It was the word that caught this young man.  He wanted his questions answered.  So he sought  Christ to pose the questions that that no one else could answer to his satisfaction.  He wanted an answer that would provide meaning  to his life.  He wanted to know.  He wanted to believe.  He wanted to do those things that would guarantee him success to the kingdom of heaven.  So he sought Christ  for the answer to his questions.  And behold, a certain man came to him and said, "Good Master, what good work shall I do to have eternal life?" 

What good work shall I do to have eternal life?  Is this not the question for each and every one of us?  Do we not want to have eternal life?  Do we not want to enjoy the life that we have forever?  Or, is this not a question that we concern ourselves with now.  Are we only concerned with the questions of the here and now:  Where will I work to make money?, How will I pay bills?, Where will my kids go to school to get the best education?, What can I do tonight to entertain myself?, What girlfriend shall I call tonight?, etc.  These and others are worldly questions that are upfront on our conscious mind on a daily basis.  They occupy our minds from the time we awake from the time we pass out to sleep.

Do we concern ourselves with what we must do to have eternal life?  Will compliance with Sunday worship be enough to secure our future eternal life?  Or is there more that we should do to be certain of that future?  Our lives are filled with worldly thoughts and demands that prevent us from concerning ourselves with eternity.  And it is those thoughts that we are given to have that stop us from being who we are.  We are eternal beings created in the image and likeness of our Father.  He gave us life and Christ came to renew that life after it was lost by Adam.  Yet in the world today we have no awareness of who we are. 

We are drowned by the demands of the world.  We are blinded by the desires and passions of this world.  We are lost and asleep in the world, as if we are the walking dead.  For it is death that leads us in this world.  It is death that drives us into oblivion.  It is death that stimulates our passions and desires.  And it is death that will lead us down the wide path of destruction. 

Christ came that we would have life.  He came that we would know the truth of who we are.  He gave us the instructions to discover ourselves.  He arose from the grips of death.  He left this world that we would know that he is truly the Christ.  He sits at the right hand of his father waiting for us to call to him as our savior.  The decision is up to us.  The path is before each of us to follow.  The door is open to those who decide to seek the path that will lead them to the knowledge of eternal life.  Know yourself.  Be yourself.  See yourself as you are seen.  For it is through the knowledge of yourself that you open the door to the truth of who you are now and forever.  Christ awaits you.  God the Father loves you.  And the Holy Spirit will lead you in this world and the next.  Open the door and ask Him in.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 15, Christ touching the little ones.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus blesses the children) Part 5.

Christ instructed his disciples not to hinder the little ones from coming to him, for he wanted to touch them.  He wanted to be with them, to see them, to feel their presences up close.  They were the newly born, the new life, the light of life fresh from the tree of life.  Christ knew them before they were born into the physical world.  He knew them from the tree of life as he knows all.  He knew them in heaven as they were still on the tree of life.

So he instructed his disciples to let them be.  He told them to come close.  He told them to come see him that they may see with their eyes the savior of the world.  Though they were still just children, they would remember the day that they met the Savior.  They would remember the day they saw him, the time that they felt him, the time that they were near to him in the flesh.  For his time was short.  His mission was almost complete, his journey coming to an end.  And when he had laid his hands on them, he departed that place.

The little ones come into this world without any knowledge or understanding.  They depend upon those that came before for wisdom and truth.  They take what is given to them and incorporate into themselves the knowledge of those around them.  And when the time comes, they may question the validity of what has been given to them.  Or they may accept what the world has offered them and seek to conform to the norms of the day.  But they came unblemished into the world.  They came without malice.  They came clean, new, fresh from the tree of life.

And then we laid hands on them.  And then we loved them.  We gave them the best of what we had.  We influenced them and turned them out into the world.  And the world took hold of them and molded them into the people that they became.  Yet deep within them there was still life.  Deep within there was still the light of Christ.  Deep within was the spark that came from God our Father who loves them, calling them from the world that they may know the truth of who they are.  Did they hear?  Did they see?  Did they understand what they felt was a deep need that could not be filled from the world? 

Christ came to give his life for the children, that they might have new life.  He came that all would have the opportunity to know that they are spiritual and not physical beings.  He came that we would all have new life in him.  But it is up to us to know it.  It is up to us to see it.  It is up to us to grasp the true meaning of our spiritual being.  For our life is in him and not in the world.  Our hope is through him and not in the sky.  Our dreams are fulfilled from him and not in the dreams of death in the world.  He laid hands on the little ones just as he lays his hands on each and everyone of us.  Reach out and take his hand.  Reach out and hold it.  Reach out and feel him.  And then, you will know the joy of your Father who loves you.  You will know the peace of your Lord who believes in you.  You will know the excitement of the Holy Spirit who will live with you until you make the transition into the kingdom of heaven.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.