Trashin the Checklist

Where is your treasure? I recently was reading in my devotions about how a rich man told Jesus he was ready to make it into heaven because he was a good man. Jesus then went through the law and he said "Master I have done everything in the law, I have kept all of the commandments." Jesus told the man, "If you have done all this, then sell everything that you have and follow me." The man went away depressed because he was a rich man and had many things.
Most of us have heard this story, I have hundreds of times, but the truth in this situation really sheds light on the human heart. How often am I doing right on the outside? I cross all my 'T's' and dot all my 'I's', but truly my heart isn't the Lords.
This man was rich, he probably had a great education, I am sure he tithed, he kept the Sabbath and he flat out said that he always honored his parents. (which means he was lying, really who on earth has never talked back or been disrespectful?!) On the outside this man was a prime 'Christian'. He looked great, how often do I look great but my heart is given to something else.
The reason this passage struct me was the fact that looking good does not mean godly. Looking good does not mean your heart is the Lords. God never said to play the Christian part, He said to take up His cross and follow. Looking good doesn't mean I am not really 'worshiping' something else. (clothes, guys, popularity, friends) all it means is that I look good to the world (or other Christians) but in reality I am just a body who is not living for God, and I are definitely not pleasing to God.
As Christians we tend to look on the outward appearance. The Bible says that we are going to do that because that's all we see, but normally aren't we focusing on what we do on the outside and not the heart? Don't we look to make sure someones skirt is the right length or that someones TV show is 'check-able'? I am not saying get rid of standards or accountability, but there is no where in the Bible where he asks for a measuring tap to check to see if your godly.
The last part in the passage where the young man went away sad I began to wonder, if the Lord asked to me to give something up for him, would I be sad? What in my life am I holding on to more tightly to that I am willing to let go of the hand which was scarred because of me? The question that I find myself asking is, is this particular item or activity wrong? That is completely the wrong question. Is being rich a sin? Absolutely not! The question I should be asking myself is how much do I love this item or activity? Are my thoughts controlled with the fact that I love the Lord, or that I want to go watch this movie? The Bible has given us clear guidelines to live in many areas, but there are many areas that the Lord has left open for us to make decisions on. We need to make decisions on the fact that we want to honor and glorify the Lord, not whether or not it is far enough away from the 'line'.
In this passage the Lord pointed out the heart of a man, a heart that truly didn't love Him, but a heart that wanted to check off a list so he could find favor with God. The problem with that is God doesn't have a list or a tally mark for us. As Christians we are washed in the blood! Jesus just wants my entire heart to be completely and wholey His. The question is, is it?