Hard Requirements

Mark 10:22 At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.


The rich young man had tried to do the right thing. He was careful with the commandments he thought. He said he had done all these since he was a youth. Jesus had not included commandment number ten, thou shall not covet.  Jesus then points out that he was coveting what belong to others by his hoarding of wealth. Jesus confronted that problem and the young man was downcast and left. 
In the story Jesus looks at him with love, but won't let him be content with himself when giving less than he should. Jesus looks at each of us with the same love. He knows what we do right and he knows our flaws and failures. He doesn't give up on us because of our flaws but he won't settle for them either. We are too often led to believe that our flaws are unavoidable. We insist that we are sinners and we will always be sinners. At the end of the passage assigned for the day Jesus says, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” Jesus points out that on our own we can't achieve what God desires, but with God all things are possible. We can overcome our shortcomings with God's help. Elsewhere Jesus told the disciples, "Be perfect then as your heavenly Father is perfect." Doesn't sound like letting us off the hook to me.