The Eye of the Needle

In Luke 18 Jesus tells the very rich Ruler of the Jews to sell everything he had and give it to the poor and “follow me”.

The rich ruler turned away in sorrow and Jesus said these very famous and troubling words…

“it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God”

By definition, in the scriptures, the “poor” are identified as not having the daily necessities of life; food, clothing and shelter. Therefore, compared to the poor, those who have those necessities are rich.

I personally do not know anyone who fits that definition of being poor. Everyone I know is rich.

You might develop the idea that it’s best to be poor that God doesn’t want us to be rich… not true,

The promises of the Mosaic Law were that those who obeyed it would be prosperous on earth.

On the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said that those who put the kingdom first would have all the necessities that they needed in life.

In fact when someone comes into the church building begging I tell them I know what their problem is… they haven’t put God first.

So how are we going to get that camel through that needle?

1 Timothy 6:17-19, identifies several things rich Christians are to do.

- Be not high minded or arrogant

- Have hope set on God, not personal wealth

- Do good and be rich in good works

- Be ready to distribute or share their wealth

- Be sympathetic to the needs of other

An example or two might be handy.

Zaccheus dedicated 50% of his paycheck to help the poor. If he wronged anyone financially he not only returned their money but gave them 4X back.

Righteous Job instructed many, steadied the weak and braced up tired knees.

So how do we get that camel through the needle?

Easy… don’t make it your goal in life to become wealthy. Our goal should be to serve God with the totality of our being and if God wants us to be wealthy he will make us wealthy.