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I am using readings from the 49 Week Bible Challenge as the basis for these devotions. I encourage you to join me in this discipline. Today’s readings are Luke 18:15-43; Exodus 20; Psalm 123; Zechariah 5.
Luke 18:18-27
And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For 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.” 26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
You can get a camel through the eye of a needle. It will simply be dramatically changed in the process! Don’t you just love that image? Puree of camel! The trick would be reconstituting the camel after it makes it through the eye of the needle. This, obviously, is hyperbole. Camels cannot go through a needle’s eye. It’s impossible!
That’s what the disciples say to Jesus when he makes that point even more clear. He says, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The reason isn’t because they are necessarily more evil than those without wealth. They may or may not be more evil. The reason is that wealth blinds us to our need for God. Wealthy people rely on their wealth to take care of their problems. They call the doctor when they’re sick. They adjust the thermostat when they are uncomfortable. They go on exotic vacations when they are bored. They pay others to take care of the mundane tasks of life. They easily become demigods. They are in control.
Living under the reign and rule of God is another matter altogether. It’s not that we cannot have wealth. It’s that we recognize whose wealth we hold as a sacred trust. It’s not a matter of eschewing air conditioning. It’s that we recognize who ultimately controls the weather – all the while being good stewards of the time, temperature, and seasons God gives us.
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis) Eustace is transformed into a dragon after succumbing to greed and sleeping on a dragon’s treasure. Later, he is “undragoned” by Aslan in a deeply symbolic and moving scene. Aslan tears away Eustace’s dragon skin layer by layer and then throws him into a pool, where he emerges as a boy again, cleansed and changed — both physically and spiritually. It is a painful process. But the results are delightful.
It can be agonizing for someone to transition from a life driven by wealth and materialism to one that’s free from the grip of greed. But the real hurdle goes deeper than the pain. That’s where the power of God comes in. When the Holy Spirit convinces us to abandon our dragon-scales of greed and avarice, he also changes us – but not from the outside in, but from the inside out. He creates new hearts in us (cf. Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26). He helps us see how fleeting is wealth and human strength.
We can not save ourselves – young or old, rich or poor, religious or spiritual. But what we cannot do, God has done in Jesus. He gives us eternal treasure that will not rust, fade, or corrode (Matthew 6:19-20), and frees us to love and serve him and our neighbor.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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