There once was a rich man. He had a giant palace, bars of gold stacked high, and everything you could ever dream of. He never needed anything in this life, but he had one thing troubling him.

One day he was thinking. “I have everything I could want. Except! I don’t have eternal life. I want to live forever with all of my wonderful things. How can I do that?”

He had heard about this man named Jesus who could perform miracles. People were saying that he was the Son of God. They also said that he knew how you could get eternal life.

“I will go and ask him!” The rich man decided.

So, he went out to find Jesus. When he found Him, he dropped to his knees and bowed. “Oh great teacher!” he said. “Please tell me how I can have eternal life!”

Jesus then told the man all about the Ten Commandments. He told him all about each one, and then he told him about another one.

Jesus said, “You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. If you follow these Ten Commandments, and this rule, you can get into the kingdom of Heaven. Have you done all that I said?”

“Yes,” the man said. “I have always followed the Ten Commandments. I have always been faithful to God. I have always lived a good life. Thank you!”

The man turned to go, but Jesus had a funny feeling. “Wait.” He said to the man. Then, Jesus looked into his eyes. He looked deeply into his soul. He could tell that there was something wrong.

“There is one more thing you must do,” Jesus said.

The young man had a bad feeling about this. “What is it?” he asked.

Jesus said, “You must sell everything that you own, all of your riches and treasures. Then, you must give that money to the poor. If you do this, you will have treasures in Heaven. If you do not do this, you cannot have the eternal life you wish for.”

“Then it will not be,” the man said sadly. “Because I will not part with my treasures. They mean everything to me. I’m sorry, master.”

Jesus told him that God would always forgive him if he had a change of heart. The young man went away sadly. He knew that he could never have eternal life.

When he had gone, Jesus’ students asked him, “Why could that man not have eternal life?”

Jesus told them, “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.”

What could Jesus have meant by this? It doesn’t make much sense does it?

Well, think about it this way. Do you know how big a camel is? Pretty bit, right? And, do you know how big the eye of a needle is? Small, right?

Think about how hard it would be to stuff that camel through the eye of a needle. That’s how hard it is for a rich man to get into heaven.

Jesus said it was hard, but not impossible. Think about this. Can you have lots of money and riches, and still live a good life? It can be done, but remember that Jesus also said, “You cannot serve two masters!”

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