Matthew___19

Scripture  Matthew 19:23-25 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  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.”  When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” Observation-What does it say?  Jesus enters into a series of short lessons that hit some points that are hard, and very contrary to popular belief.  The beginning of this chapter opens with a discussion about the lawfulness of divorce. Jesus makes a hard statement, that it is better to stay single than to get married and succumb to divorce, knowing that this is too hard for most people.  The next conversation flips the idea of societal status on its head. Jesus lived in a society that did not give much regard to children. Jesus tells his disciples that they should learn to be like children in order to accept the Kingdom of Heaven in their lives.  He then moves onto money, or whatever it is that we put in front of Jesus. For the rich young ruler, though he lived a chaste life, he still held his money in higher regard than a relationship with Jesus. Jesus made a point of showing that we must let go of that which is our most precious possession.  (For some of us, that might be our children).      Understanding-What does it mean?  When we moved recently, I quickly found out how many things I really didn’t have as much attachment to as I thought.  As the moving process began to come to a close and we were running out of time, I found myself ruthlessly discarding items that I had held onto for years.  As we started unpacking, I found myself asking the same question over and over again, “Why did I keep this?” Hearing this enough times, I began to wonder what it was that I valued the most.   The saying goes, “He who has the most toys wins.”  And it has become clear that this mentality is getting harder and harder to shake.  If one were to look at research into what Americans think are necessities now, which were once considered luxuries, you get the sense that we are clinging tighter and tighter to our toys.  Research has shown that the average American now finds things, like high-speed internet, phones and personal computers, as “necessities” instead of luxuries.       God operates in a different economy than we do.  Throughout scripture, we hear that the first will be last, the poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of heaven, that God gives strength to the weary.  He warned us that this is not our final home, and that we should not look to be storing treasure here (Matthew 6:19-21). We are also told, through Paul’s letter to the Philippians, that we are not to be selfish, but to look after the interest of others (verse 2:3-6).     Life Application:  As we get closer to the celebration of Jesus’ birth, I know I need to look past the usual rush for getting the perfect present.  God help me to look for situations that I can give an unusual blessing. Help me to seek out the ones who are in need of a kind word.  Give me the opportunity to use my time and resources to bless those in need today. But mostly, help me to remember to put you in front of my possessions.  -Tyler Galloway