Earnestness and sincerity were plainly displayed in the young face. His heart had been touched by the words of this strange teacher.

He had everything this world has to offer – money, friends, and power - yet there was awakened in his soul a sense of need. “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

In his question, we may hear an echo of own spiritual hungerings, “Lord, how may I obtain peace? What must I do to have complete victory? How may I become holy?” Maybe we have some more personal questions, “How can I be free from anger or resentment?”

In answer to the “what shall I do?” Jesus did not prescribe a new ceremony. And for us, who are not burdened down by wealth or treasured “things,” we may feel that his answer leaves us with nothing to do. “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:” Matthew 19:21

We watch wonderingly as the eager, searching gaze falls and the inquiring one turns sadly – finally- away. What an exchange! The rich young ruler turns back to his cold, lifeless piles of coin and turns his back on the real treasure and eternal happiness and peace. We may shake our heads at this transaction, sure that we would never be so foolish.

But can we be sure?

Ownership
Whether or not we have a fat bank account to claim, there is some real estate over which even the poorest fight fiercely. Do you posses such a plot? Ownership can be detected by phrases such as: “He can't treat me like that.” “I deserved some credit.” or “It's not fair.”

Our sense of ownership extends from “my car,” “my child” or “my job” to “my rights.” In today's society, practically everything is copyrighted, suing is the order of the day and a huge emphasis has been placed on “my rights and dues.” In the Christian world, books on “Boundaries” have been popularized, teaching us how to protect “my space,” “my time” - my rights.

In contrast to this, God's word states unequivocally, “ye are not your own.” (1 Cor. 6:19) I cannot lay claim even to myself, much less anything else! How then can I ever say, “This is mine?”

What is the Christian to do, then? If we cease to protect our rights, won't we get trampled on?

The story of a jungle missionary answers this question with humorous eloquence.

Nate* and his wife had given up the comforts of home to take the gospel to tribal peoples. But there was one thing that they really missed. Fresh fruit was scarce on the mission field and they longed for it. So Nate decided to plant a pineapple garden. He brought in about a hundred plants and paid one of the natives to plant them for him. It took an awfully long time for those pineapple plants to mature. For three long years Nate and his wife watched and waited. Finally as the third year came to a close, the fruit began to ripen. The missionaries were getting excited. Every day they walked through the field to see if any were ready to eat.

But before they got to pick their first pineapple, the fruit disappeared. The natives stole every single one!
Missionaries aren't supposed to get angry. But Nate got mad. He threatened the people that if they stole any more of his pineapples, there would be no more clinic.

Nate's wife, Linda* had been working long, exhausting hours providing care and medicine to the natives for free. It was hard to close the clinic, but Nate felt he had to be firm. He couldn't let them people run all over him!

But the people didn't seem to care. They let their babies die and went right on stealing the pineapples. Sick people came begging for help and Nate and Linda just couldn't keep turning them away. They reopened the clinic.

Then Nate found out who was stealing the pineapples. It was his gardener! When he took him to task for it, the wily native said, “My hand planted them. I eat them!” This is the rule of the jungle.