I seem to keep going back to the story of the rich man who asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life, but this time I want to use it to compare the rich man to another man. This is a bit of a rework of something I wrote a little while back but in a little more depth. Let’s look at the story one more time.

The Rich Man

A rich man walked up to Jesus one day seeking to justify himself before Jesus and the crowd. He asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the commandments, which must have been a pleasing answer to the man. But then Jesus, as he always seems to do, took it a step further and he told the rich man he must sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. The rich man walked away sad because he had many possessions, turning down Jesus’ offer of eternal life.¹

Paul’s Contentment

Now let’s contrast that with Paul. Paul came from a wealthy family and was studying under Gamaliel, one of the greatest rabbis of the time. Yet he had a choice to make and, unlike the rich man, he chose to follow Jesus. After that point Paul led quite a different life than the rich man who walked up to Jesus that day. He didn’t have many possessions, and yet this is what Paul wrote while he was in prison:

¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.²

Paul had nothing and yet he was content because he drew his strength from his faith in Jesus Christ. This really hits home when you look at all that Paul endured throughout his life:

with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. ²⁴ Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.³

As you can see, Paul did not have an easy life after he began proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet as he sat in prison, instead of lamenting what he gave up, he could say that he was content no matter what situation he found himself in.

Who Was Happier

Paul accepted the Word while the rich man rejected it and which man was happier? The answer is obvious, but why was Paul happier?

The rich man had everything in this world that he wanted, but he did not have the one thing he really needed. On the other hand, Paul might not have had everything he wanted but he had everything he needed in Christ.

Paul was content even while he was in chains because he was free in Christ, while the rich man found himself bound in the chains of his riches and he was sad because he was a slave to sin.⁴ Paul’s treasures were being stored in heaven while the rich man’s treasures were being stored here on earth.

¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.⁵

Our Choice

 Treasures on this earth are fleeting and temporary, but treasures stored in heaven are eternal. The choice we all have to make is a simple one. It is the same choice Paul and the rich man had to make, but as the rich man showed us, it is not always an easy choice to make.

We all have to choose where our treasures will be stored, we all have to ask ourselves where our priorities are. Will we seek worldly goods or will we strive for the riches of heaven?

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ⁶

Are we living in a way that will assure us riches in heaven? Or like the rich man, are we tied to the riches of this world?

We feel contentment in our lives when we are doing well, but do we feel contentment when things are not going so well? That’s when it becomes harder to remember God is with us. But looking to God during the hard times should give us the same contentment we have during the good times, knowing that we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.⁷

If you enjoyed this content please scroll down and comment, subscribe, and share! You can also follow Cross Talk on Facebook by clicking on the link in the sidebar on the Cross Talk home page.

1. See Matthew 19:16-22 ↩︎
2. Philippians 4:11-13 ESV ↩︎
3. 2 Corinthians 11:20-27 ESV ↩︎
4. John 8:34 ↩︎
5. Matthew 6:19-21 ↩︎
6. Mark 8:36 ↩︎
7. 1 Corinthians 5:1 ↩︎