Milford chronicle., 1905-04-07
The Needles Eye.

| can make any other Interpretation out
AZ this text. Some commentators de-
clare that this passage Of Scripture
means, "If any man trust In rlcnes II
I Is as Impossible for him to enter the
kingdom Of God as for a great Dig
huge, long necked, thick Tipped, hump
backed, crooked limbed camel to go
/ through the eye of a sewing girls
/ needle" Others assert that the Greek
word for "camel" translated In broad
sense means a "cable rope" even as
the three English letters row on the
one hand might mean a row OF CAD
bage heads in a vegetable garden and
on the other hand, a barroOm hght.
These latter two substantives are speH
in the same way as the Greek word for
camel which sometimes signifies Ca
BILE rope" But l take the third inter-
pretation OF the commentators. take
the third because to my mind as
traveller in the east think the door or
the needles eye cut into one OF the
great gates Of Jerusalem and into the
great gates Of other eastern cities is the
only rational simile. With my own eyes
I have seen the needles eye, that very
door about which Mark says Christ
spoke. And in Imagination l saw
great, gruntlng, groaning camel being
pulled through on his bended knees.
All, see him tug at the rope and jerk
back his head. See him fight and bite.
See in that symbol Of the camel the
rich man struggling to hold on to and
to grip his gold, refusing to bend the
knee to Christ.
Merchant, is it not harder for you to
feel your dependence upon God now
since you have made a financial sue
cess in life than when you were tinan-
cially poor? When as a poor farmers
boy YOU started for the great city to
make a living you then felt your de-
pendence upon God. There was no
doubt about 1t. You prayed hard the
night before you left home that God
would care for you. In the railroad
train just entering the depot you put
your head upon your hand in the car
seat and said: Lord, lead me. am
absolutely weak and helpless. Lead
me-" DO you make that prayer nowF
With a big bank account and a home
upon a fine boulevard and multitudes
Of friends. do you get down on your
knees every day, like a camel going
through the eye of the needle, and say:
Lord. thou who dost feed the birds Of
the air and clothe the lilies Of the field,
clOthe and feed me, guide me, pro-
tect me. 1 am helpless without theeT
Do you make that prayer daily? Oh,
rich man, rich in money, but poor IN
grace, down on your knees. Down on
your knees in supplicatiOn. Lift high
er today the throne of God by bending
low over the lowest throne step. Down,
rich man! In the name of Jesus, down!
How to Get Through.
The needles eye of the Jerusalem
gate is very low. also find that it is
very narrow. Not only does the camel
have to bend his knee to get through
it, but he also has to have his packs
taken of his back If this is not done
the camel, with its distending loads
hanging upon its sides like our grand
fathers saddlebags on a horse, could
not get through the narrow door. Tie
rich man cannot get through the nee
dies eye OF the kingdom Of God unless
he stops carrying around with him his
great packs of meannesses and con
temptibilities and selfish actions, with
which often he is accustomed to deal
with his fellow men. And yet how
hard 1t must be for a rich man to be
absolutely just and kind and truthful
and forgiving to those whom he meets
in the ordinary walks Of life. Indeed,
the more see Of rich men the more
feel that, as far as their dispositions
are concerned, they are in the unenyi-
able position of those who were
brought up as an only child in fam
/ lily and have every temptation under
the sun to make them spoiled children
and spoiled men.
There was not very much chance OF
you and your brothers and sisters be-
coming mean and selfish when you
were young. You were only one Of
/ nine children. Your father was a
farmer All the boys and all the girls
had to do their full share Of work.
/ You not only had to divide tne nome
labors, but you also had to share your
toys and your pleasures with each 9TH
er. If a box Of candy came into tile
house you were not allowed to grab a
handful. If there were three crullers
upon the table and six children you did
not have three or two or even one. You
only had a half. Each child had as
much as you bad, and you had as much
as the rest; no more, no less. When
you went off to the city school you
took turns and went of in patches.
You did not all so together. You wait
ed your turn and helped each other to
an education. You shared each others
bed. You halved each others sorrows.
You doubled each others joys. Oh, l
feel sorry for the man or the woman
who did not have the blessed training
of growing up amid big family Of
brothers and sistersl
First Idea of seIhshness.
Selfshness? In those days you did