The rich young ruler felt that doing good deeds on earth will lead to perfection and ultimately eternal life.

Hence, he meticuously kept all ten commanents from he was a child. However, he still felt dissatisfied as if something was lacking from his life.

Thus, the young man went to Jesus to get His opinion on the matter.

Jesus told him that the only thing that he had not done was to sell all his possession and give to the poor, and then follow Him.

This selfless act will give the young man a perfectly satisfied life.

However, the young rich ruler could not part with his possessions so he went away sorrowfully (Matthew 19:16-22)

What is the morale of this story?

1. Money cannot buy happiness.

Clearly, the young man was wealthy, but still unhappy and disatisfied with his life.

2. Your wealth cannot purchase eternal life. There is no literal tree of life nor a fountain of youth that can be bought to achieve long life.

3. Obeying all ten commandments cannot give you eternal life.

There is only one way to be perfect and gain eternal life. This way is through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)

Jesus told several parables of what the kingdom of heaven is like.

One of these parables were about a man who found treasures buried in his field so he went and sold all his possession to purchase the field.

Similarly, a second parable was about a merchant who found a pearl of great value  so he sold all his possessions to buy this pearl (Matthew 13:44-46)

The treasure in the field and the valuable pearl are symbolic the Lord Jesus Christ.

When you find Christ, you are willing to give up everything in your life to follow and serve Him because when you have Christ you have everything.

Umfortunately, the rich young ruler missed this great opportunity and returned to his life of misery.

If you have not already done this, I pray that you will not miss this wonderful opportunity to sell all your possessions and follow Christ.