Why is it more difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24)? The direness of our predicament in the Valley of Tears is one of the two engines of salvation. The other engine is the sweetness of paradise. The sweetness of paradise pulls us to the entrance of paradise. The direness of our predicament in the Valley of Tears pushes us to its exit. However, the serpent cast an illusion that sugarcoats the direness of our predicament in the Valley of Tears (Genesis 3:5). The sugarcoating induced Adam and Eve to run away, like foolish children, from their home with God in paradise and take us with them into the Valley of Tears. The sugarcoating is thicker for the rich man than for the poor man. The thickness of the sugarcoating makes it harder to shatter. The thicker the sugarcoating, the harder the sledgehammer of truth needs to work. A rich man thinks that he can exploit his riches to fend off the crosses that besiege us as we pass through the Valley of Tears (Luke 12:13-21). His riches can hold the crosses at bay. The poor man, not having the cushion of riches between himself and his crosses, is more aware than the rich man of the direness of his predicament. Riches conjure up the dangerous illusion of safety and of independence from God (Luke 12:16-21). Riches give the rich man a false sense of security. A poor man with no resources is much more likely to turn to God than a rich man with resources. God is the resource of the poor man. God is all that the poor man has.
Always look at life from the outside in