Daily Dose of Hope

September 12, 2025

Scripture - Luke 18:18-43

Prayer: Heavenly Father, We come before you today in awe of your Word. Thank you for speaking to us through Scripture. Help us commit to being grounded in your truth. Help us make learning more about you a priority. We get so distracted! The world comes at us from all sides. Lord, in these next few moments of silence, help us set aside our scattered thoughts and focus on you...In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the daily Bible reading plan at New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida. We are currently doing a deep dive into the Gospels and Acts. Today, we finish our deep dive into Luke 18.

Today’s reading begins with people bringing their babies to Jesus. The disciples rebuke them. At the time, children really had very little value. I know that is hard for us to understand because we value both human life and the innocence of children. But in the ancient world, children had the absolute lowest status. Jews would have considered children a blessing but they were also needed to be part of the family workforce. Young children worked full time and they worked hard. There was nothing innocent or romantic about being a child in the first century.

Enter Jesus. He had a totally different idea about the value of children. He said the Kingdom of God belonged to those who are like the little children. Basically, Jesus picks up a toddler and says, “You have to be like this little one. You have to be willing to be nothing, to totally give up your status. Why? Because my Kingdom is not about raising up rulers of this world but its about giving dignity and life to the least of these.” You see, over and over again Jesus is showing us that he is not interested in what the world values and sees in people. Rather, he is actually interested in the people themselves. They have value to Jesus.

We move from the children to the rich ruler. A man comes to Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus says, “Well you need to follow all the commandments.” And he lists them, you shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, give false testimony. You shall honor your father and mother.

The man simply says, “Yes, I’ve done all those things since I was a boy.” Jesus looks at him and says there is still one thing you lack. Yes, you follow all the laws, but there is still something you lack. It was assumed that if one followed the law perfectly (we know that’s impossible but if one did a good job following the law) then they would receive eternal life. Jesus is saying, that is not the case.

Jesus isn’t denying that this man is following the law, he isn’t disputing that. This is obviously a man of high integrity who is clearly doing all he can to be obedient to God’s laws. “One thing you lack,” Jesus said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” The text says that the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth. This is the irony. The children in the former story who possess nothing are told that the kingdom of God is theirs; yet this man who possesses everything still lacks something! Only when he sells all he has—only when he becomes like a vulnerable child—will he possess everything. But he isn’t willing to do that. He decides to walk away from Jesus. The man wasn’t expecting to have to make that kind of sacrifice. He had no idea following Jesus would be so hard.

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September 15, 2025; Luke 19:1-27

September 15, 2025; Luke 19:1-27 •
iHeart

Daily Dose of Hope from New Hope