The Vine News

Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 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. Mark 10:24-25.

I've always read this passage and thought it was referring to rich people, never people like me. That was, until I got a change in perspective, in two senses of the word.

First, I learned I am rich -- in fact, one of the richest in the world. When we consider the relative wealth in the rest of the world, most every US citizen, even the poorest among us, is rolling in money. If you earn just $47,500, you are among the top 1 percent of the richest persons on this planet.

But the passage doesn’t say how hard it is for rich people to enter the kingdom. It says how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom, and there is the distinction.

As an experienced business owner, I have seen some great times, and some really, really tough ones. And considering how I responded and reacted to either state, I have now seen more truth to that passage.  I had to ask myself, do I trust in riches? And while my mind was saying no, my behavior said something else entirely.

In my times of ups and downs, I have acted like I trusted in riches. Riches made everything alright as long as they were flowing. Riches soothed. They calmed my fears. Like a drug, it made things better.

Yes, I thanked God from bringing the riches, but I now realize that my relief was wrapped up in riches, and not in the God who provided.  How do I know this? Because when the riches dried up, I still had God, but I was not nearly as satisfied or relieved. In fact, I was frightened. What in the world would I do without riches?

I thank God that He loves us enough to not leave us in that state, and that He is jealous enough to not let His child’s heart be forever invested in anything other than Him.
Jonah, as he clung to life in the belly of a great fish made this declaration: “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy.”

We cannot enter the kingdom of God – the fullness of His grace, the splendor of His joy, the comfort of His presence and the assurance of His love – while holding onto something other than Him alone.

Wealth, power, influence – it is all alluring, even mesmerizing, and it is easy for hearts to go astray. But experience one moment in the presence of the living God, and nothing created, no matter how much of it the world has to offer, can ever compare.