MY CAMEL I loaded my camel rich and high. And marched him up to the needle's eye. He was laden with riches manifold, With bales of silks and with sacks of gold, With precious stones and jewels rare. With vessels lovely beyond compare. I urged my camel with angry din, I pressed my camel to enter in, But far too large with his loading high, He could not pass through the needle's eye. I rode the camel a night and a day And sought to enter some other way; But though I followed the wearisome round, Only the needle way I found. I groaned, for I did not have enough. But I took from the camel the bulkier stuff; And with golden gems I would fain get by— Still the camel stuck at the needle's eye. Then I left the camel alone outside And all by myself the entrance tried; But with all my pockets stuffed— alas . The needle still would not let me pass. So at length I threw all my wealth away, And sank upon the lowly beast of prey: I begged the Lord to forgive my sin, And to let a poor traveller in. And lo! the marvellous needle's eye Grew to an entrance wide and high. And proud and glad in a beggar's dress, I passed through the portal of happi ness. But where the camel with my goods did go, I did not care and I do not know. witness for the Lord Jesus. By His sovereign grace He has put you and me on the level, that we can be right, just, and fair with one another. Every thing we do and say is calculated to be to the Lord’s honor and glory. As a believer I ask you, “How are you living today? Are you living righteously among sinners, or are you living as the sinners?” 6
How to Shine {continued} we are to say “no” are ungodliness and the lusts of this world. By ungodliness we, as believers, are never to be en gaged in those things which express a rebellion against God. This is never so forcefully illustrated, and tragically so, as when a Christian marries an unbeliever. The lusts of this world do not neces sarily mean that which relates to sex or immorality but rather any selfish desire. The word “lust” is merely the German word meaning “desire,” “a thing earnestly wished for.” There are things for which we can wish which, in themselves, are perfectly right for us to have. The. motive for our wanting them, however, can be entirely wrong. In every goal of life we need to ask ourselves, “Do I want this for the glory of the Lord, or is it to further my own interests?” Anything which pampers the ego is to be avoided. But the picture is not all negative for there are some things to which we are to say “yes.” We are told to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. Here, the three primary dimensions of life are brought into focus. Sobriety refers to the interior life. Righteousness has to do with the o u t wa r d . Godly, however, dea l s with our upward life. To be sober means to be well balanced. To be righteous means to find a joy and peace in life through knowing that the sin question has been settled. To be godly means proper balance. You and I are not to be spiritually drunk. We are not to spiritually stag ger. Incidentally, the word for “tres pass” in the original language means “to stagger,” “to fall off the line,” “to fall beside the real mark.” Since we have been born again and know the Lord Jesus, one of the things that we are to be is spiritually sober. The word righteous is our relation ship to others. You and I are to be, in relation one to another, absolutely on the level. This is such a rare com modity in our day that when people see us immediately they will become joyous, giving us the opportunity to
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