And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 19:16-24 (ESV)

Only with difficulty.

Some people say being a Christian is hard. There is one group of people for whom that is very true: the rich. They are very reluctant to lay aside their worldly wealth for that treasure in heaven.

If you have been reading my writing for a while you may notice a bit of a theme saying riches lead to the corruption of the soul. This is because this is a Spiritual truth which is rooted in the revealed word of God. It is also because the temptation to chase after wealth and to hold up the wealthy as “blessed” has been taught to us from a very early age. Jesus did not say “blessed are the wealthy” but instead, the poor. James, his brother said “weep and mourn you rich” because they had their blessings in this world, rather than the one to come.

Be a Christian before you get rich. Practice the things that will bring you eternal blessings. Because if you wait to try and be godly once you have spent all your time pursuing wealth, well, that comes only with difficulty.

Ethan Kirl

Originally Published September 28, 2021