Threading a Needle With Your Life
I have been told that there is a small, low gate in Jerusalem that can only be passed through by a camel that crawls on its knees. This was invented by some theologian to explain how Jesus could possibly state that rich men are not likely to get saved and go to Heaven. Since Jesus was not talking about “going to Heaven,” the novelty story was unnecessary. His statement was related to “entering the Kingdom,” not to “going to Heaven when you die.”
Rich men, like the one who “went away sad” when Jesus invited him to become a disciple after giving all of his possessions away, frequently find it difficult to surrender their lives and their futures and their wealth to a King. Especially if that King clearly doesn’t consider their valuables to be as valuable as they do. Especially if that King clearly is insanely generous to people who don’t deserve generosity.
Entering the Kingdom is the process of living a life in which everything for which I am responsible and everything of which I am in possession must be surrendered to the ownership and management of Jesus the King. Even though it is as difficult to empower a rich man to hand his riches over to Jesus as his Chief Financial Officer as it would be to squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle, Jesus can make it possible.