The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Mark 10:17-22, “As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 “You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’ ” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.”

It’s truly hard to fathom! Here is a good man, intellectual, polite, subservient, earnest, thoughtful, with everything going for him. The Scriptures omit details about his upbringing, but from the things he said, it would be easy to believe that he came from a good, religious, Jewish family. For when Jesus cited the commandments, the man’s reply was, “I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Yet, something was missing…

I know some people like that, don’t you? They’re good people, they’re pleasant, polite, generous, helpful people. They would give you the shirt off their backs if you needed it. They smile and give every reason for one to believe they are solid, Bible-believing, church-attending, missionary-supporting people. But, they’re not.

They attend weddings held in the church; they attend funerals, where they’ve heard the Scriptures; they’re just good, old, down-to-earth people – the kind that made America great. Just one thing is missing: Jesus Christ. Oh, they believe He exists. They’ve heard preachers tell about Him. They’re not objectionable to the Bible or sermons, or hymns that exalt the Savior. They even sing the hymns that exalt Jesus when they’re in the right setting to do so. They’re just like the man who called Jesus “Good Teacher,” except they never committed their hearts and lives to Him.

I’m sure you know some folks just like this man who called Jesus “Good Teacher.” They’ve just not gone far enough to personally accept Him as their LORD and Savior. What are we to do?

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need, until He becomes all that we have.” –Corrie ten Boom