Who wants to be in God’s kingdom when Jesus comes? Do we hear anyone saying “No”? Silence? Is the question too difficult to answer? As we meditate on this simple, yet most profound question, think about why Jesus said, “You are not far from the Kingdom” [Mark 12 v.34] to an unnamed “scribe” [v.28] who had heard his rebuttal of the Sadduccees [v.18-27] for refusing to believe in the resurrection.

This scribe asked Jesus, “What commandment is the most important of all?” and Jesus told him [v.29-31] to which the scribe responded, “You are right teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” [v,33]

It is this response that leads Jesus to say the words above. Within the lifetime of many listening, Jerusalem and its temple would be destroyed, there would be no place where they could make sacrificial offerings, which, as is so often stated by the prophets, were usually not offered with the right attitude of heart.

Our thoughts on this led to a meditation, first on the oneness of God, that there is no other, no competing gods. As Paul puts it in a letter, “one God and father of all, who is over all and though all and in all.” [Ephesians 4 v.6]. We must see this as far more than a theological statement, but many fail to!

The central focus of our thinking must be on the kind of love we have for the one and only God, the creator and originator of all life. In our thinking on this there must be special times when our relationship with God involves all our heart, such thinking must be done with all our understanding and strength of mind. In really doing that, we will regard all other people (for all are our “neighbours”) with a readiness to be of service to them whenever there is a need. What greater help to give, than to help them to become “not far from the kingdom of God.” But until we are in that position ourselves, we cannot do this.

It seems incredible that Solomon near the end of his life should be so foolish as to turn to other gods. Today’s chapter tells us “when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” [1 Kings 11 v.4]

The wives that turned away his heart were “foreign wives” [v.8] and he made “high places” for them where they could worship their own gods and even got involved in such worship himself [v.5]. We ponder how this could possibly happen.

Now it was only possible for him to have all these wives, and such was the culture of that age, because he had so much wealth and resultant esteem. His wisdom, his proverbs and the grandeur that displayed his wealth brought him so much fame. Now think back to what we read of his first personal encounter with God. We read this in Ch. 3 when “the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, ‘Ask what I shall give you’. And Solomon said, “ ... give your servant ... an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may be able to discern between good and evil” [v.9]

God granted his request, but also said, “I give you also what you have not asked for, both riches and honour, so that no other king shall compare with you ...” [v.13] Was that only a great additional blessing? Was it not also a test – a test which in the end found a weakness in Solomon’s character?

His wealth and honour was a test for him, and he did not fully pass the test. In another way he failed to. He wrote over a thousand Proverbs, one that is often quoted, was, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he shall not depart from it” [22 v.6]. It seems he was so pre-occupied with his building projects that he neglected the training of his son Rehoboam, with disastrous results as we shall read tomorrow.

The lesson for us is the truth of that maxim, ‘Practice what you preach.’ Paul put it very well in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” [10 v.11,12]

A verse in Mark Chapter 10, today’s reading, says how “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” [v.23] It set us thinking as to what constitutes wealth today? There would be different answers in different countries!

The young man to whom Jesus said this “had great possessions” [v.22] The previous verses says, “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him” Why did Jesus have that attitude? Well, from verse 17 we read that this young man “ran up and knelt before him” and in the ensuring conversation about the commandments of God said, “Teacher all these I have kept from my youth “ [v.20].

But the young man had “great possessions” and he went away “sorrowful” when told to “sell all that you have”. Does this mean that if you have few or no possessions and no money in the bank you are going to be in the kingdom of God? No, it does not! James, in his epistle, writes, “Listen my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom” [2 v.5] There’s the heart of the matter – “rich in faith” – and James goes on to write (v.14-17) how you show your faith by how Christ-like you become and what you do in your life, your priorities.

Now back to our question at the beginning – what constitutes wealth today? We live in a vastly different world to the First Century. The great majority have forms of “wealth” which invite them to occupy their minds with various pursuits day after day. Jesus invited the young man to “come follow me” after he had disposed of his wealth. So, we reason, there are all kinds of things today that can distract us from effectively doing that. Yet some of those things, put to the right use, can help us to do that – the internet and emailing being an example.

There is a theory, that cannot be proved, but is interesting; that the young man did end up following Jesus; heis the one who “sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet” [Acts 4 v.37] So many have forms of “wealth” today – “how difficult” that makes it for us to effectively follow Jesus and truly make him our Lord.