Despite all we learn about the rich young ruler from the Bible, we are never told what his name was; as we saw in the previous Note, that is because it simply doesn’t matter. (See “What We Don’t Know About the Rich Young Ruler” • 1) He was one who seemed to have just about everything the world could offer, and yet his life had no real meaning, no eternal value; he simply lived on the earth for a little while and then vanished away. So many today, even without realizing it, are in that same situation, especially in this country!

The good news is, there is another way we may take, which has a very different result.

Compare his case to that of the chief tax collector, which is recorded, in the Gospel of Luke, just a few verses after the story of the rich young ruler. We surely do know the tax collector’s name, Zacchaeus, because he welcomed the Lord into his house and received His salvation, to the point of willingly forfeiting all the riches he had gained through improper means; how joyful he was in doing so! (Luke 19:1-10). And what a contrast to the case of the rich young ruler! (Luke 18:20-23).

And of course, even more compelling is the case of the apostles who were with the Lord during His earthly ministry. We tend to make light of their history as recorded in the Gospels, because so often they just were not clear about what the Lord was doing. (But of course, in this they are just a picture of us in our own following of the Lord.) And yet, they could look the Lord in the eye and tell Him, as Peter did,

“Behold, we have left all and followed You.”
— Matthew 19:27

How many of us could say the same?

And because they followed the Lord so fully, the New Testament is filled with their names, so that even today, believers throughout the world consider and learn from their lives regarding how to become followers of Christ. And even in eternity, the names of these “twelve apostles of the Lamb” will be written on the very foundations of the holy city, the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14); how valuable, how meaningful, were their lives, and how very different from those who do not pay the price to follow Christ!

May the Lord grant us all to see how meaningful it is to live a life of following Christ; it surely is a life with eternal value, and nothing the world offers us could ever compare with that.

Lord, grant us to offer ourselves and our lives to You in a fresh way, so that we will not live lives of vanity, but rather, use our brief time in this age to gain that which has lasting, eternal value!

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— 20 June 2026 —