Will You Go Through The Eye Of The Needle?

Will You Go Through the Eye of the Needle?

Sunday, October 02, 2011

By Rev. James May

Mark 10:17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

This young man was a man of position; a man of great wealth, and highly respected among the Jews for all that he had been able to accomplish in such a short time. He undoubtedly had a great mind for business, and was more likely, schooled in the ways of the Pharisees. According the standards of Jewish society, he was a rising star and a great role model for all other young people in Israel. He was a man among men, having earned what recognition was given to him through hard work and long hours.

But he was a man that was also mindful of the fact that this life he was now enjoying would one day come to an end. He believed in a life after death and he also knew that inheriting that life after death required something of him. He desired to know what that something was?

Down deep inside, there was always something gnawing on his heart, something telling him that something was lacking, something that stood between him and the eternal life that he wanted so much. But what was it that was blocking his path? What was it that never allowed him to have peace and to have an assurance of his entrance into Heaven?

I have to admire his curiosity and his heart-felt desire to know the truth. This young man was not like so many of our day who seem to go through life “getting all they can; and canning all they get”. Though he had amassed much wealth; he know that there was more to life than just having things. There was an uneasiness in his heart; a feeling that nothing of this world could take away; a worry for his soul that nothing he owned could relieve.

Jesus had already left town and was walking with the disciples toward Jerusalem when this young man came running from behind him as fast as he could. He just had to talk to Jesus while there was a chance because he didn’t know if Jesus would ever pass that way again. He was right in running to catch the Lord, for this was the final journey of Jesus to Jerusalem where he would be crucified upon the cross.

The young man knew that there was something special about Jesus, but he didn’t understand that Jesus was the Son of God. He considered the Lord to be one of the great Rabbi of Israel and perhaps this Rabbi could give him the answer that his heart longed for.

Oh that we could all learn to do what this rich young man did! At least he knew where to run to for his answer! Too many people today are blinded by Satan and don’t know where to go to get the answers for their questions in life.

In some ways people are like this young ruler: they seek to find answers in the things of this world. We seek to find the answers to our need through other people. How many marriages today start out because that young man or woman finds someone who they think will meet their needs; only to discover after a short time that the other partner in their marriage can not meet their needs and, in fact, only adds to the heavy burden they were already carrying. First there is fighting over what each one wants; then they go searching for someone else to meet that need; then the marriage ends in a divorce court and the cycle starts all over again. A marriage should be based on what can I give for this person that I love so much; not on what can this person who is so attractive to me, do for me? A marriage that begins with each partner focused only on themselves will nearly always end up in a parting of the ways. Too many today are focused only on what someone else can do to make me happy.

Sometimes we seek to find an answer to the emptiness inside by filling our lives with things that just take up our space and time and keep us occupied so that we don’t have time to think about the fact that life is fleeting and there’s an eternity coming at us fast.

We fill up our time with social things like Facebook, Twitter, Tweeting, Texting, calling and friends. We can’t stand even a moment of silence so we have the radio, the MP3 player, the IPOD and TV all going at the same time. We can’t sit still so we have to get out on the highway, running the roads, going everywhere and nowhere at the same time while we are talking, texting and letting the music play. We read books, listen to the news all day long, or have our favorite programs that consume our spare time. But in all of this, there is often very little, if any, time for the things of God. None of these things will give us eternal life. All they do is occupy the life that we have now so that there is no time to think of tomorrow, much less eternity.