Daily Inspiration

Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible." Then Peter said to him in reply, "We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” -Matthew 19:23-30
 
There was once a gate in Jerusalem called The Eye of the Needle, but it did not exist until 1,000 years after Christ spoke these words. The original word Christ used in the Greek text is surgeon’s needle. Jesus speaks of something more significant than us unloading our physical treasure to pass through a gate.
 
When I was in the presence of the Holy Spirit, this was the first passage that flooded my mind. I witnessed God's unfathomable power and knew that all things were possible in Him. Passing a fully grown camel through the eye of the smallest needle was simple for Him. I saw that God is greater and above all of creation; by comparison, I was less than a speck of dust. I wanted nothing more than to remain with Him for all of eternity. In comparison, I was nothing, nonexistent, yet to Him, I was the most valuable thing He ever created. He sees each of us in the same way. 
 
When I returned, the earthly possessions that once owned me were no longer significant to me. My desire for them had disappeared. My only desire was to be with Our Lord. We will never unburden ourselves from the weight of our earthly desires. But, once God shows us that He is everything, we are nothing, and He loves us as if we are the only one ever created, we are freed from the trap of earthly possessions. Because all things are possible with God, it isn't we who offload our possessions; rather, the Lord unburdens us from our obsession with them so that we may pass through the eye.
 
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.
 
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Jesus, I trust in you.