One of the features of being human is a deep desire to be confident about our personal eternal destiny.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."  Secularism, the conscious decision to push such thoughts away, only flourishes in a minority of the world's population: the rest are religious in one way or another - seeking an answer to the questions, ‘What happens to me after this life?’, and ‘How can I ensure I am good enough to meet God?’

Even the religious leader, who came to Jesus, was not confident of the answers.  He came as a devoutly pious man who had lived a highly disciplined life.  He came to Jesus who seemed even better than himself.  What secret did Jesus have to live a totally unblemished life?  Jesus questioned his definition of ‘goodness’ saying that only God is fully good.  But the possibility of Jesus being God was apparently not even considered.  The truth was that the ruler was not really interested in Jesus but only himself (2 Timothy 3:1-5).  How could he do enough to be acceptable to a good God.  This religious self-love obscured him from being able to look beyond religious regulations to the God of love who wanted to relate with him.

Although he claimed to have kept all the commandments, he did not understand that God's standard is perfection (Habakkuk 1:13). The ruler had not only deceived himself about his social righteousness, but he also had a secret false god, an idol - money!  Jesus said that if he was serious about an eternity with the only true God, the false god had to go.  But that was only half of the message: as well as the false god going out, he had to come to the true God and follow Him.  That is why Jesus said, "Come, follow me".

It is the same today: millions of people are trying to be good enough for God through the things they do.  But they do not understand that however many good things they do, just one bad thing will undermine their moral perfection.  Only one person was morally perfect, Jesus Christ.  To repent of all false idols is the start and then to accept that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and trust Him by following Him all through this life and into the next.  See www.crosscheck.org.uk to know more.