The Eye of a Needle

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." -Matthew 19:24

Once I had a coworker friend when I was a server at a restaurant. We'll call him Rob. He was a big, tall lumberjack type of fellow with wit and intelligence as sharp as a knife. He had a photographic memory and he never had to write down any of his orders. That was quite a feat for a restaurant of that type with a wine list a mile long and three different dinner specials a night. Rob was working on his Masters degree at the time.

Something really struck me about Rob. He never really needed anybody. He was a pleasant guy, and you could tell he knew he was smart. But the sad part was, he didn't seem fulfilled. He seemed bored with his life. I got to thinking about Rob one day, and the scripture Matthew 19:24 came to mind.

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Normally when this Bible story is taught, the reference to "rich" is correlated to money. But it can relate to anything that gets in the way of us following and depending on Jesus. As I saw with my friend Rob, he was rich in talents, gifts and personality, so he hadn't needed to depend on God. Sometimes our greatest gifts are the things that can hold us back the most.

How much further could we go by trusting God versus relying on our own strength? "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48b)

Related resource: Driven by Eternity: Make Your Life Count Today & Forever by John Bevere 

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