20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 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: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
I have always thought of this scripture as the Savior asking this man to, literally, give away everything he owned (which he was)..but then I looked at this painting tonight. My attention was brought to the old man in the corner. The old man looks sad, hungry, and doesn't even have a shirt to wear on his back. We don't know his story, and most of us have never (and hopefully will never) walked in this man's shoes.
The Savior doesn't only require this rich man to sell all he has, but also asks him to give to the poor. I thought of how many of us are like this rich young man. We may not be wealthy, but how many of us live a comfortable life with a cozy car, food for our families, clothing to keep us warm, and countless other luxuries and riches. The Savior is asking us to see this man who is in the shadow and to care for him. We are asked to love our neighbor. We are asked to love and look out for our brother and sister. We don't have to have worldly riches to give riches to someone in need of a smile.
Sometimes, as The Book of Mormon states, we simply need to, "Mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.." (Mosiah 18:9). Other times, we may need to give of our supply. We are taught that what we have done to the "least" of our brethren, we have done it to the Savior. The Savior also reminds us in Mathew 25:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
A lot of words, I know, but just a thought I had from a painting tonight. May we all love our neighbors a little more and care for our fellowmen.
