Earthly and Heavenly Blessings

This week in New Testament, I studied Matthew 19 and 20.  One of the parables that Jesus told was about a rich young man.  He asked Christ what he could do to obtain eternal life, and Christ basically told him to keep the commandments.  He told Christ if there was anything else that he could do, since he had been doing that his whole life.  Christ then told him that there was one more thing: sell everything he has and give it to the poor.  The young man walked away from Christ, choosing to give up all that He could offer, and for what?  I’ve always kind of wondered why someone would choose worldly wealth over Christ.

In Matthew 19:16-30, it seems to me like the young man had a comfort zone that he didn’t want to leave.  He was willing to follow the Savior as long as it was comfortable for him.  It seems like this happens a lot today.  People want to follow the Savior, but for whatever reason aren’t willing to do everything He has asked.  How many people give a couple of dollars to the homeless person on the street corner?  How many people will offer a place to sleep to someone in need, even if they’re a friend?  Not very many people come to my mind, and why?  Because it’s not comfortable, it’s not convenient, it’s not easy, yet this is what the Savior asked of us.  What’s more important to you: comfort or the Lord?

It seems to me that the young man was also prideful.  He seemed to want to continue to be considered (by men) better than others.  The Savior said in Matthew 19:23, “…that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  I think that it is because of the pride that seems to accompany riches.  Rich people tend to think they’re better than everyone else because of all that they have.  With this attitude, humility is impossible.  I think that what the Savior was really asking the young man to do was to be humble.

The Savior promises everlasting life, treasures in heaven, and “…an hundredfold…” (Matthew 19:29) of whatever sacrifice you made or gave up. I personally would rather be humble, keep the commandments, follow Christ, and end up with 100 times what I had before I started serving Him.

When he heard Christ say that it’s hard for a rich man to obtain eternal life, Peter wondered what it means to basically give up everything to do so.  The Savior told him that he (and anyone else who sacrifices for the kingdom of God) will receive 100 times as many blessings as what they sacrificed.

The Savior’s response to Peter gives me some hope.  Sometimes I feel forsaken by the people who should love me most, and it hurts.  There’s not much I wouldn’t do for them, but I have to think about the “grand scheme of things,” so to speak.  Is what they’re putting me through and some of what they want me to do worth it?  It’s hard to keep an eternal perspective when others close to me want me to certain things and potentially risk that relationship, but Christ’s response to Peter gives me hope that no matter how good or bad it works out with them, it will all be worth it in the end.

In Matthew 20:1-16, Christ tells the parable about a man who goes to the market to hire some laborers.  He went to the market early in the morning, offered some laborers a penny a day to work in his vineyard, they worked about 12 hours, and received a penny.  The man goes to the market in the third hour, offered some laborers “…whatsoever is right…” (Matthew 20:4), they worked nine hours, and received a penny at the end of the day.  Those the man hired in the  hour worked about six hours, in the ninth hour worked about three hours, and those he hired in the 11^th hour worked about one hour, and they were all paid a penny.

From this parable, I was reminded that we know what is expected of us, and we know what the potential reward is.  It is the same for everyone.  We can either take the Lord’s offer of eternal life in return for keeping the commandments, or not.  It’s our choice.  It doesn’t matter when we start serving the Lord.  Our spiritual progress is up to us.  We can grow as fast or slow as we want, and I don’t think that when we accept the gospel has much, if anything, to do with it.

I think that this parable can provide some comfort to converts to the Church I know that it’s not going to be held against me that I was baptized a little later.  It’s not something I could help or do anything about, so it’s nice to know that it won’t affect my eternal salvation or that of my future children.

Some people feel like it’s unfair for each of the laborers to b paid equally, and if they asked for my opinion on it, I would tell them that at least they’re getting paid.  I would also try to help them look at the situation from another standpoint.  God is a just God, why would He disadvantage any of His children and not be willing to make up the difference?