 |
Matthew 19: 23 Then Jesus said to
his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of heaven.” (NIV)
|
 |
How silly we must appear to God.* |
 |
Following this declaration, Jesus restated it
for emphasis. “Again, I tell you,” he said, “it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Forget all the speculation you’ve heard about camels and needles. Jesus said it
was hard, not impossible, for a rich man to go to heaven. The camel and the eye
of the needle was a figure of speech. He was speaking figuratively, not
literally. Other people speak figuratively, why not Jesus?
Now that we have that out of the way . . . let’s talk about why it’s hard
for a rich man (or woman) to enter the kingdom. I think this quote from Max
Lucado provides us with a clue: It’s not
just the rich who have difficulty. So do the educated, the strong, the
good-looking, the popular, the religious. So do you if you think your piety or
power qualifies you as a kingdom candidate.* In other words, the problem lies in where we put our
trust.
It doesn’t
matter if you have all the advantages listed above or if you have none of them.
Your money or your power or your good looks may open doors for you in this
world, but don’t count on them to open heaven’s gates for you. And, in fact,
being poor, dumb, weak, ugly, and/or unloved won’t help you either. When God
looks down on us, he is looking for the blood of Jesus. Without the blood, we
might as well be that camel trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle.
|
 |
Be careful never to place your trust in God’s blessings rather than in God.* |
No comments:
Post a Comment