Never-ending chores

Jesus, help me to keep working on the things I want to do least. Amen.

A man asked Jesus how to get to heaven. "Follow the Ten Commandments," Jesus said. The man said, "I do that already." Jesus told him, "One more thing: Sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, then come follow me." The man sadly went away, because he was rich and didn't want to do what Jesus asked.

"Did you clean your room?"

"Yes."

"Did you finish your homework?"

"Yes."

"Did you take the dog outside -- WITH the pooper-scooper?"

"Umm...."

It's always that last thing that gets you! Just when you think you've done everything and can go play, someone mentions the one chore you've been avoiding -- and you can't avoid it any more.

Jesus dealt with that all the time. People like the man in this week's Gospel (Mark 10:17-30) came to Him proudly, thinking they were doing everything right in life and that Jesus would just tell them, "Congratulations! You're definitely going to heaven."

It doesn't work that way. Like walking the dog (and scooping stuff you don't want to think about), the thing you avoid most is usually the most important thing you have to do.

The man Jesus met thought he had it made. He obeyed the Commandments -- didn't kill, steal, lie and so on. But Jesus reminded him that there's more to being a good person. The man was blessed to have money, so Jesus wanted him to share it.

When you have to do something you're not happy about, it's easy to give up. The man in the Gospel did. But Jesus wanted us to keep trying to be better people.

Our chores are never really "done," but we can still be happy while we're working on them!