Based on the Sermon: “The Poor Little Rich Man”
Day 1: Who Is This Jesus?
Reading: Mark 10:17-18 — Jesus responds to the rich young ruler by pointing to his own divine nature, declaring that only God is truly good.
Devotional: Before any meaningful conversation about eternal life can happen, the identity of Jesus must be settled. The rich young ruler called him “good teacher,” and Jesus redirected the compliment straight back to the throne of God. He was not deflecting praise. He was claiming it. Everything in the Christian life rests on this foundation: Jesus is not merely a moral example or a wise rabbi. He is God in flesh. If that truth is not settled in your heart, every other spiritual discipline becomes hollow. Ask yourself today whether you have truly reckoned with who Jesus is, not just what he can do for you.
Reflection Question: Have you ever treated Jesus more like a helpful teacher than the sovereign Lord of your life?
Practical Application: Write down, in your own words, what you believe about the identity of Jesus. Be honest about any areas where your daily choices suggest you believe something different than what you write.
Day 2: The Commandments We Prefer to Keep
Reading: Mark 10:19-20 — Jesus recites the second half of the Ten Commandments, which govern how people treat one another, and the young man confidently declares he has kept them all.
Devotional: Jesus listed only five of the Ten Commandments, and they were all horizontal ones — the ones about how we treat other people. He did not yet mention the vertical commandments about loving God above all else. The rich young ruler was eager to check those boxes. It is far easier to measure behavior toward other people than to honestly assess the condition of our devotion to God. We are often quick to point to our decency, our fairness, our generosity toward others, while quietly avoiding the harder question: Is God truly first? Morality without wholehearted devotion to God is not salvation. It is just good manners.
Reflection Question: Which commandments are you most comfortable measuring yourself against, and which ones do you tend to avoid examining?
Practical Application: Spend time today reading all Ten Commandments as found in Exodus 20. Honestly evaluate your life against both the vertical and horizontal commands, and bring what you find to God in prayer.
Day 3: Loved and Still Challenged
Reading: Mark 10:21 — Jesus looks at the young man, loves him deeply, and then delivers the most difficult word the man has ever heard.
Devotional: This verse may be the most tender and most terrifying in the entire passage. Jesus looked at this young man and loved him. Not a casual affection, but the same deep, divine love he had for his closest disciples. And then, because of that love, he told him the hardest possible thing. Real love does not leave us comfortable in our compromise. It does not affirm us in our attachments. It names the one thing we are holding back. God’s love for you is not a love that looks the other way when something in your life stands between you and him. It is a love that calls you forward.
Reflection Question: Has God ever shown you love by confronting something in your life rather than simply comforting you?
Practical Application: Ask God in prayer today to show you the one thing — the area of your life where you have not fully surrendered. Sit quietly and listen. Write down what comes to mind without immediately defending yourself.
Day 4: The Weight of What We Will Not Release
Reading: Mark 10:22 — The young man hears the call, feels the weight of it, and walks away sorrowful because his possessions are great.
Devotional: He did not walk away laughing. He did not walk away angry. He walked away sorrowful. That detail matters. He knew what he was losing. He could feel the pull of eternal life. He had come running, knelt down, and asked with genuine desperation. But when the cost became clear, he turned and left. Jesus let him go. That is perhaps the most sobering truth in this passage. God, in his sovereignty, grants us the dignity of choice, and he will not snatch from our hands the things we refuse to release. The question is not whether God wants you fully. He does. The question is whether you want him more than what you are holding.
Reflection Question: What are you walking away from God with in your hands right now, and what is it costing you to keep it?
Practical Application: Identify one specific thing — a habit, a relationship, a pursuit, a comfort — that you have been unwilling to fully surrender. Bring it before God today and ask for the grace to open your hands.
Day 5: The Hundredfold Promise of Full Surrender
Reading: Mark 10:28-30 — Peter points out that the disciples have left everything, and Jesus promises that no one who surrenders for the sake of the gospel will fail to receive far more in return, along with eternal life.
Devotional: Peter’s question sounds almost like a complaint, but Jesus answers it with breathtaking generosity. Whatever you release for the sake of the gospel, Jesus says, will be returned in abundance — not just in eternity, but now, in this life. The missionary Jim Elliot, as quoted by his wife Elizabeth Elliot, captured this truth plainly: he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. The rich young ruler held tightly to wealth he would one day lose regardless. Every earthly thing we cling to will eventually be taken from us. What God offers in return for our surrender cannot be taken, cannot decay, and cannot be exhausted.
Reflection Question: What would it look like, practically, to trust that what God offers is worth more than what he asks you to release?
Practical Application: Spend time today in gratitude. Make a list of spiritual gifts, relationships, and blessings that have come into your life through seasons of surrender and obedience. Let that list build your faith for the areas where God is still calling you to let go.