Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
I’ve been out to the Black hills of South Dakota numerous times with my wife and family, and it’s a great getaway, to see the beautiful things that God has created. In Custer State Park, there is a very scenic road known as Needles Highway. This fourteen mile stretch of road winds through some of the most incredible rock formations and scenery that I’ve ever seen. This highway was completed in 1922, and has had numerous visitors over the last 100 years. If your children like to climb on rocks I don’t think there’s a better place for them to do it! In fact there are numerous challenges for more serious rock climbers. As you drive down the highway, you will eventually come to a pullover spot where there is a rock pinnacle that looks just like a needle’s eye! Right next to it, is the needle’s eye tunnel, which is a one lane section of road that passes right through the granite that is only 8 feet, 4 inches wide.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
This tunnel is fairly wide compared to a narrow gate found in Jerusalem, which was called the “eye of the needle.” Camels were usually very heavily loaded with containers and packages and before they could pass through this narrow passage, they needed to be unloaded first.
Matthew 19:23-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And 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. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Man in his carnal nature will seek to increase his wealth and possessions in this world, but it takes the Holy Spirit of God, indwelling in a man’s heart to overcome these sinful desires.
Luke 12:13-15 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
The disciples had forsaken all to follow Jesus. Think about all of the wealth that Moses would have inherited if he had become Pharaoh in Egypt, but he turned away from it all in order to serve God. It would be similar to a billionaire giving away all of their wealth to the poor, in order to focus their time on preaching God’s Word.
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Many people are confused, thinking that the church needs money to operate. God doesn’t want your money, He wants preachers. He can cause a coin to be found in the mouth of a fish, God can provide. He wants people to unload their possessions and follow Him by doing what He did while He was here on the Earth. Jesus never had his disciples gather money and construct some church building somewhere. They met in people’s homes, out in the woods, or in the fields. People nowadays have turned Christianity into a money-making, profit scheme, completely opposite from what originally intended 2000 years ago. It’s become so bad that they turn off potential converts to Christianity by their greed. God doesn’t want your possessions, give them to the poor and start preaching. This is one of the reasons why the love of money is so evil, because it pulls men away from what God calls them to do. They really believe that the more that they possess, the more Godly they are, but their hearts are deceived by the devil.
1 Timothy 6:5-10 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
God doesn’t want or need money, He wants preachers. God doesn’t want you to go out and get a job somewhere, He wants you to leave your jobs, just as the original apostles did when they left their nets and their wives and families and followed the Lord to preach the kingdom. Just as Moses, the original disciples chose to become poor so that they could become rich in spiritual knowledge and wisdom. Imagine the wisdom that you could possess if you spent 10 hours a day in God’s word rather than packing boxes for minimum wage. Sell what you have, unload your wealth and possessions to the poor, and you will quickly find your bills will disappear.
Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Scriptures teach us to take one day at a time. What things do you really need in your life to survive another 24 hours? Maybe a good meal, some clothes to wear and hopefully a place to sleep. All the rest in this world is extra baggage. The more you have, the more there is to be concerned about. Possessions become a stumbling block to your relationship with Christ. If people would simply learn to downsize and be content, they would find that they have a lot more time available to them to seek God during their day and to preach.
In the parable of the prodigal Son, possessions had no hold on the father. He divided the inheritance between his two sons, signing everything over to them before he had even died. I’ve always felt that if only death can wring your wealth from your hands, it was never given to others out of love while you were alive. God doesn’t want your money, he wants you to sell what you have, give to the poor and preach. John the Baptist was poor and preached. Jesus was poor and preached. The disciples left their jobs, became poor and preached. Men of God need to become poor, and step up to the plate and preach. Quit worrying about taking care of a dumb building, or paving a parking lot, or cutting the lawn somewhere. Start preaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matthew 19:24 And 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.
Don’t deceive your own hearts. Every man has their weakness and for some it is covetousness, but remember that the path to eternal life is far more narrow than the tunnel that you will pass through when you’re driving on….
……..Needles Highway.
house on……
……An Empty Stomach
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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