“And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'” (Mark 10:17, ESV)
In the previous verses of Mark 10, Jesus calls on us to trust in Him completely as little children do their parents. Now Mark shows us with an example of a man who trusts in his wealth rather than in Jesus. The rich young ruler came to Jesus desiring to know what thing he needed to do to take hold of eternal life. He seemed self-confident, pretty sure of himself, of his talents and abilities, his social position and his wealth. He keeps the law, but is not satisfied. Something is missing. Perhaps he had grown weary of doing religious deeds. He wanted to know the one thing that he must do to guarantee salvation.
But Jesus told Him, the way to insure eternal life is to give up his treasures and follow Him. This the young man was not willing to do and so he went away in deep sadness. This does not that wealth and possession are wrong in themselves. Using them to define and glorify ourselves, trusting in and depending on them rather than on the one who gives them is. Wealth can become a god we look to meet our needs. Of course anything we make more important or value more than Jesus is a god. We might not say it, but our actions and attitudes show that we value things or people more than we value Jesus. Jesus wants us to trust him to put Him first and He will take care of our needs.