Eye of a Needle & Building Barns

Matthew 19:23-24

²³Then said Yeshua unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴And again I say unto you, 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.

In the context of Matthew 19, Yeshua is definitely referring to a rich man.  This is similar to the parable in Luke 12:16-21.

¹⁶And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: ¹⁷And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? ¹⁸And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. ²⁰But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  ²¹So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

The difficulty for the rich man is he trusts in his riches.  He never gives much thought to what God would have him do.  The rich man thinks that he has everything under control.  He is independent of others.  The answer for the rich man is in Matthew 19:25-26.

²⁵When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? ²⁶But Yeshua beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

On His own, the rich man can do nothing to preserve his soul eternally.  However, with God all things are possible.  This includes salvation for the rich man.

Now many of us look at these parables and think to ourselves that this is referring to someone who is much more wealthier than us.  Most think that this has no application to them.  However, compared to many countries; those in America are considered quite wealthy.  Yet, this parables applies to even those in the less developed countries.  This is a challenge all go through to some degree.

We all try to get things under control with out God.  We develop a plan that will work for us.  It is going to resolve all our problems.  Many times it is if we can just get the right job.  Or just pay off a certain debt, we can get ahead.  Or if we had the right spouse, we would live a fulfilling life.  We look for ways to solve all our problems.

We only make one mistake, we do not let God guide our paths.  We do not give ourselves over to Him.  God should always be the architect of our plans.  When we do it on our own, we are no different than the rich man.  I we continue to do this, we will find ourselves far from the kingdom of God.

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