“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”       Matthew 19:24 (ESV)

As a parent, I know I have many short comings. Nobody’s perfect, but sometimes I find there are little things that I failed to pass on to my kids leaving me thinking, “How did I miss that?”

One day my daughter called and mentioned she had two pair of pants belonging to her husband that were missing a button. I simply told her to sew them on and let her know I even had some extra buttons in case she needed one or two. Then, she told me she didn’t know how to sew on a button. My initial reaction was “How do you not know how to do that?” To which her humbling response was “You never taught me.” Ouch.

As a mom, I felt I had failed in not teaching her something so basic before sending her out into the world. I know it’s a small thing but a good and necessary skill to have. 

To rectify this situation, we decided she would come over prior to a family gathering for a quick lesson. With a similar dilemma, my daughter-in-law decided to join us as well. To prepare, I got out all the necessary things. I made sure they each had the correct size and color buttons needed, the appropriate color of thread, and a needle. As we began, I told them threading the needle would be the hardest part. I prepared myself for this to take a few excruciating and frustrating minutes because personally it always takes me quite a few tries. 

Much to my surprise, they each successfully threaded the needle on the first attempt. I don’t know if my eyesight is getting worse or if I just make things harder than they have to be, but I never get it on the first try! As I observed my girls follow the simple directions I gave, I noticed how eager they were to learn and how careful they were to do exactly what I said. When we were done, both girls were proud of their work, and I was proud to have shared a simple thing that made a difference to them.

All of this reminds me of Jesus’ lessons in Matthew chapters 18 and 19. In Chapter 18 verse 3, He tells us, “… ‘unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”  This emphasizes how important it is that we pay attention and trust His instruction following closely and modeling His behavior just like children model what we teach them – no matter how old they are.

Expanding on this, He further teaches us in Matthew 19:24 that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. I don’t know about you but sometimes when I sit down to sew I think it would be easier to get a camel through the eye of the needle than that flimsy thread! Of course, the real point being made here is that getting into heaven has nothing to do with our worldly works and earthly treasures (you can’t take it with you). It’s impossible to get into heaven on our own – God is the only one who can make the impossible possible. 

That time together for our sewing lesson taught me – #1 we are never too old to learn from our parents and #2 no matter how old our kids are we continue to parent, to teach, and pass on our knowledge and skills. 

It is the same with us and God. We must acknowledge we still have things to learn, remain teachable, and continue to go to Him for instruction.