Mark's Sunday School Review

Often times we make things harder than they need to be. We will work harder at avoiding work rather than just doing it.

This is supported by the con perpetrated by Oscar Hartzell in the early 1900s. See the story here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Hartzell. He made a lot of money but was it worth the cost to him and his victims. He died in prison after serving nine years of his ten year sentence. His focus was on himself and not where it should have been.

Just like the story in Mark 10:17-31 where the rich man came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to have eternal life. The man had lived a good life and followed the rules. Jesus then told him to sell everything and follow Him. This upset the man and he went away sad. Much of the time we respond to what Jesus asks of us in the same way. We don’t like what we hear and we go away sad.

Where is our focus? Is it on things of the world or is it on God. God is not saying that you can’t enjoy life and the things it has to offer if you want to go to Heaven. He loves us and wants us to enjoy these things. What He is saying is that our focus must be on Him above all of the worldly stuff. In Matthew 19:24 Jesus says, “..it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Most of the time people hear this and believe it to be impossible. This is before knowing that in the time the Bible was written the “eye of a needle” was a narrow opening in the wall of a city, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_a_needle. It wasn’t impossible, just difficult. It required intentional focus.