17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Mark 10:17-22

Every time I read this passage I see something I have never seen before.

“Jesus looked at him and loved him.”

What a profound statement and something so unexpected. This came right before Jesus told the man of his shortcomings.

Wherever you are in life, Jesus is looking at you. He loves you. He loves you. He’s deeply concerned about you. You say, “He doesn’t know me from Adam!”

I beg to differ because here the text tells us He loved a man he had just met.

If you’re sad and wounded, He loves you.
If you’re on Cloud Nine, He loves you.
If you’re in the trenches day by day being faithful to the Word of God, He loves you.

How would our lives be transformed if we truly understood this one principle!

Meditate on that truth today.

He looked at you and loved you.