the message did shed some more light into this story.
I had always imagined the rich man to be this prideful man,
who, when replying to Jesus that he had obeyed all the commandments,
was being a spoiled brat that did not know what he was talking about.
but the message today depicted the rich man to be someone who was sincerely touched by Jesus' message,
who has lived a good life ("kept" all the commandments) until now
but realizes that he is missing something ("What do I still lack?").
the fact the he realizes this and approaches Jesus to find out what he is missing
shows how sincere he was about eternal life.
and what he was missing was having Jesus as his life's top priority.
for him, it was his money.
when Jesus said that he should give all his possessions away and follow Him,
he wasn't furious about how ridiculous such a request is,
or ask if there could be anything else,
or even try to compromise.
he was "very sad."
he knew that was the answer--
not just the action of giving everything away,
but that he had to have the feeling of willingness when thinking of that idea,
which only comes from putting Jesus above all.
when we put something above our Father,
we can only feel that something is "missing" despite having received salvation.
because the thing that we put above Him takes a priority,
our feelings are controlled by that and not God.
if it is money, not having all the money you want will make you feel that feeling of missing something,
if it is grades, not having that perfect (at least sought for) score,
if it is looks, not having the pretty face or the fit body,
or if it is love, not feeling loved by the other.
in this case,
anything other than God will give us that missing feeling.
only when we put Him in the top do we feel whole,
happy no matter the situation with the sure of His love.
