the first shall be last, and the last first

When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he needed to do to obtain eternal life, Jesus answered that he was to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and come and follow Him. But the Bible says in Matthew 19 that the young man went away sorrowful, because he had many possessions. He counted the cost and decided it was more than he was willing to pay.
Not long before, Jesus had said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt. 16:24-26
After the rich young ruler left, Peter, as the spokesman for the twelve, said to Jesus, “What about us? We left everything and followed you.” And the answer Jesus gave him was a promise that in the regeneration they would sit on thrones with Christ. The Jewish world that disdained them and scorned them, would one day be judged by them.
But money or possessions are only a symptom of a greater problem that keeps us from really following God. And that greater problem that all of us are guilty of is pride. It is at the root of every sin. It was the original sin of Satan, (I will be like God), Eve, Cain, and all the way down through history to the rich young ruler. At the center of “pride” is the letter “I”. And it is also at the center of “sin”.
Like the rich young ruler, how much of our efforts in religion are founded in pride? How much of our works are for others to see our righteousness? How much is our desire for spiritual prominence or even spiritual gifts rooted in pride?
Many of us today are suffering in one way or another. But rather than looking at our trials as something we need to manipulate God to deliver us from, perhaps we need to rejoice, that God has counted us worthy to endure suffering. Let God’s pruning in us “have it’s perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” What we lose on earth we gain in heaven. “But let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position, and let the rich man glory in his humiliation.” James 1:9. Jesus said the humble shall inherit the earth, and the poor in spirit, or those without pride, belong to the kingdom of heaven. But many who are first shall be last, and the last, first.