“And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24
Yesterday we had the day off (we don’t get too many of those) and we went to see one of the 7 Wonders of the World….THE PYRAMIDS! I saw 9 of them and The Sphinx. I stood there in amazement as I looked at the size of the stones that make up a pyramid. They are estimated to be around 5,000 years old and their dimensions are flawless! I wondered how these big stones were moved by men without the machinery we have today and what a genius in calculations it took? My mind just couldn’t grasp it!
My dream was to ride a camel. So, I had a guide to take me on a camel for 1 hour through the desert, around the pyramids, and to the sphinx. It was surreal to me as I had visions of myself being one of the 3 wise men on a camel bringing gifts to the baby Jesus.
Then while riding the camel, the above scripture became alive to me. In the scriptures the “eye of a needle” does not mean an actual needle. When the book of Matthew was written the “eye of the needle” was a fence/gate that had a small opening but long for camels to go through. Now, for the camel to get through, it would have to bend all the way down on its knees and crawl through the opening to the other side. A few times my guide would make his camel bend down so I could get off or on. Every time the camel got on his knees he would make the strangest noise…almost a wailing sound and his mouth would open real wide as he cried in discontent. It made me giggle a little but I also felt bad for the poor camel.
My camel didn’t like to get on his knees let alone he would have hated to crawl on them through an opening in a gate. So, I pondered the verse in Matthew. When Christianity first started, and the early Christians began spreading the gospel, they sold all their possessions and combined their resources together.
I applied this verse to myself. Would I be able to sell all my possessions that I
“worked so hard for” and give them to the poor and combine all my resources with the church? Ouch…that sounds like a pretty harsh request and quite painful. Just as hard as it is for a camel to painfully get on his knees and crawl through the eye of a needle.
The World Racers are going through a similar situation/challenge right now. Some of the teams are low on funds to finish the race around the world. We are in the process of considering the pros and cons of combining all our support money together to ensure that every single person is able to finish the race as we await further donations. Wow…what a challenge in selflessness…to give your team’s money to other World Racers to all help each other finish!
As the World Racers work together as one body/unit if you feel as though you would like to contribute to our cause, please contact Adventures in Missions at http://www.adventures.org/ or right on this website. You will truly be blessed for your giving. God Bless you!
Allah Baraklikum (God Bless you)
