Why do you ask?

So I was trying to select a smaller portion of Matthew 19 to focus on this morning, and I really wanted to jump to the answer Jesus gives the rich young man in telling him he needs to get rid of all his possessions, so that I could meditate on what that means for me. But I got stuck on the very first words Jesus says to the young man. (or I could say the Holy Spirit chose a different passage for me :-)

Why do you ask me what is good? There is only one who is good.

Since this kept jumping out to me, much as I tried to move forward in the scripture, I decided I should probably "breathe" on that for awhile. And then it was narrowed down even further.

Why do you ask me what is good?
Why do you ask?
Why?

Am I afraid to ask myself that question, lest it reveal less than pure motives? I have so much faith in God's grace that I don't think I'm hung up on "earning" eternal life, like the young man was. But maybe if I really ask myself why, I see that at least part of the time I'm just performing, trying to get an A+ in Christianity, a 98% on my Simplicity test, just for my own ego. That isn't always the answer, but maybe I need to ask myself "Why?" every day, just to keep that stealthy ego in check.

Maybe I'm more like the young man than I think!

Why?
Tracy