Give it up!

Matthew 19:23
"And Jesus said to his disciples, 'Truly, I say to you, only with great difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven'."

Earlier in this passage, Jesus was answering the question of a rich, younger ruler who wanted to know what he must do have eternal life. Jesus gave him 9 of the 10 commandments and the young ruler responded that ever since his youth he had kept them all. Jesus then told him to go and sell all his possessions and come follow him which caused him to be sorrowful because he was wealthy and did not know if he wanted to give up all his earthly possessions. 

In this verse Jesus has turned to his disciples and told them that a rich person does not easily enter heaven. He goes on to say that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle then for a rich man to enter heaven. When I think about a sewing needle and how hard it is for me to get a thin piece of thread through it, I cannot even  imagine the great difficulty that it would be to try to get a camel through it. That is the level of difficulty Jesus is talking about here. It is no easy task for a rich man to enter heaven, but why? 

A person with money has one of two things happen. Either his money serves him or he serves his money. It is so easy for us humans to serve our money because our flesh comes out and greed steps in. We desire more and more so we can get more and more and have bigger and better. Pastor Joe Focht from Calvary Chapel Philadelphia said that Americans worship youth, wealth, and power. We know someone who has money and we desire to know about them and who they are  and we desire to be like them. 

No doubt, their are strong believers who are wealthy and their money serves them while they serve God. Rich people can go to heaven but I can see where the struggle could come. You have all the money you need and you don't have to rely on God so much to provide the little things. Money can buy you basically anything you need or want in life, including relationships. 

I see this passage as a warning because even when money is limited, I can see how quickly and easily satan can take it and twist it so that you are serving your money, another god, instead of the one true God. Who are you serving? Are you serving God? Money? Or is there another god in your life? This passage really challenged me to observe my life and see if their is something that needs to go so that God can have the throne. What do I need to give up? What do you need to give up? What in your life may be hindering you from taking a step closer to the Lord in your daily walk?