The Eye Of A Needle

• February 9, 2017

Matthew 19:25-26 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.” 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.”

I remember when this scripture hit me between the eyes and I got a revelation of what it meant to me. When my world fell apart 5 years ago, I went through a process of reassessing everything that I thought was important to me…my marriage, my children, my home, my possessions, my status, my friends, my reputation. What would people think? I carried a heavy burden because I was so concerned about what other people would think of me and I was ashamed that my supposedly ‘wonderful glorious life’ was going to be exposed for what it really was.
In that process of facing that reality, I have learned what is really important to me, and to God. He asks us to give up EVERYTHING to follow Him. So over time I have learned to keep my eyes firmly on Him, and everything else seems to fall in to place. Sometimes I feel like I have come under the judgement of others, because I haven’t put them first, but it is amazing how those things which I once thought were so important, actually don’t matter so much any more. Don’t get me wrong, my kids and my family and friends are still the most precious things in my life; it’s just a bit different to how it used to be. I am not ruled by what other people think any more. My possessions and worldly treasures are not in the limelight like they used to be. I have learned to put God first, and then everything else then falls in to place behind Him.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you
At one stage I felt like all my earthly treasures were stacked on top of a camel and we had arrived at the entrance to the city gate. My poor camel was so weighed down with all my ‘junk’ that he was sprawled out on the ground unable to go any further. He certainly couldn’t fit through that narrow opening in the wall!  That is when I felt Holy Spirit ask me if I was prepared to give it all up and follow Him. I can assure you it wasn’t easy. But as I began to unload that very heavy burden, everything seemed to take on a new perspective and my load became a whole lot lighter.

One of the schools of thought in Bible commentaries is that it is impossible for anyone to be saved on his own merits. Back in the old days, wealth was seen as proof of God’s approval, and it was commonly taught by the rabbis that rich people were blessed by God and were therefore the ‘most likely candidates for heaven’. This theory stumped many and raised the question that if the wealthy and super spiritual Pharisees were unworthy of heaven, what chance did the poor man have? We know by Jesus’ response that we are saved by grace, mercy and faith, and nothing we can do earns our salvation. ‘It is the poor in spirit who inherit the kingdom of God’ (Matthew 5:3), i.e those who recognise their spiritual poverty and their utter inability to do anything to justify themselves to a holy God.The rich man so often is blind to his spiritual poverty because he is so proud of his accomplishments and has contented himself (exerpts taken from Google www.got questions.org)

Matthew 11:28-29 (NKJV)
Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

So now that I have unloaded the weight of the world, and have come into a new understanding of what the scripture means, I can step in and take my position in the Kingdom of heaven, I feel like now is the time to encourage, equip and inspire others to do the same. God didn’t ever say it would be easy, but He has asked us to be obedient to His will. I am finding that as I surrender, and seek His will for my life, those things which have been de -constructed, are now being given back to me in a different measure. Sometimes God needs to de-construct before He can re-construct.
And so…the ministry of The Eye Of A Needle has been birthed on this page today. I’m not really 100% sure of what it’s going to look like, but I do know that as long as I keep my eyes on Him, He will direct my path. So please bear with me as I find my feet and step in to the world of blogging.