What Profiteth It a Man: The Rich Young Ruler (Modern)

Parable

And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is agood, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. - Luke 18:18-25

What Profiteth It a Man: The Rich Young Ruler (Modern)

In this story, a rich young ruler asks Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life. Jesus tells him that he must keep the commandments to which the young ruler replies, ®All these have I kept from my youth up.® Jesus then tells him to sell all that he has and give it to the poor if he would have treasures in heaven. When the young ruler heard this he went away sorrowful, ®...for he was very rich.® - Luke 18:23

Jesus was not concerned with the amount of money that the rich young ruler had, but that he had set his heart upon his riches instead of giving it to God. Today, we are so caught up in accumulating that we seldom stop to think if what we are doing will really make us happy. I included a heart in the pattern on the tie of this modern-day ®rich young ruler,® to remind us that just as the rich young ruler was faced with a decision 2000 years ago, we are each faced with choose what we will give our hearts to and whether we want treasures on earth or in heaven.