Matthew 19:23-24
(NIV)
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 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.”
Before April 26, 2012, I always took this verse literally, and thought that it was only talking about rich people. Then God gave me a spark of wisdom.
In this verse, Jesus was saying it is hard for people to get into Heaven if they are satisfied with things of this world more than they are satisfied with Him. One example can be if someone loves money more than Jesus, but that is not the only example. If a person loves popularity, food, sex, alcohol, shopping, their iPhone, friends, family, or anything else more than they love Jesus, they are less likely to go to Heaven than it is for a large Camel to get through the tiny tiny eye of the needle.
Wow, my chances are not looking good. I had to ask myself, is there anything I love more than Jesus? There are some things I really love. I love my family, I love being with my friends and having heart to hearts all night, I love that feeling when you're wearing a new outfit, I love singing music in my car, I love apple pie, I love swimming on a hot Summer day, I love playing flag football, I love making Pinterest crafts, I love that feeling accomplished, I love a lot of things. And I do love Jesus, but sometimes he somehow gets lowered on my priority list.
Other things seem more important than my relationship with Jesus during certain times, like trying to get good grades or trying to lose weight. Those things need to be important because if I fail out of college I can't go to seminary and if I don't stay healthy, I would have less time on the Earth doing God's work. They are important things in my life, but I can not let them become more important than my love for Jesus.
Sometimes I wonder if it is possible for me to always put Jesus first. I wonder how it is possible for me to be saved. If you continue reading verses 25-26, it tells you that the disciples asked the same thing.
"When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
ALONE it is not possible for us to be saved,
but with GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!
We can't do it on our own, but if we pray for help, we can put Jesus at the top of our priority list. I think we all need to spend sometime in pray figuring out what things we love more than Jesus, and what things we desire more than a relationship with Him. Don't get discouraged if the change doesn't happen over night. Our relationships with Jesus are life long journeys!
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