Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

He said to Him, “Which ones?”

Jesus said, ” ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. - Mathew 19:16-22

The response of the rich young man (”Which ones?”) indicates that he already had a problem with one or more of the commandments. Jesus goes easy on him at first, omitting “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:17) from the second table of the ten commandments - which the rich man undoubtedly did not keep.

In response to the young man’s boasting (”All these things I have kept from my youth.”), our Lord turns to the real obstacle found in the first table of the ten commandments: You shall have no other gods before Me (Ex. 20:3).

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Unfortunately, the young man put his wealth before the Lord, and walked away sad. Rather than possessing wealth, the riches possessed him.

Are there things that the Lord asks of us that we are ready to ignore or rationalize away? Do we dismiss the promptings of God that are counter-intuitive to our understanding of spirituality (”Not so, Lord.” [Acts 10:13,14])? If we are like the rich young ruler more ready to ask “Which ones?” than to say “Here am I” (Is. 6:8), perhaps we are seeking eternal life instead of the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Maybe we are seeking Christian character rather than seeking Christ Himself.