Matthew 19:16-24

16One day a man came to Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked. ‘What good thing must I do so that I can live with God for ever?’

17Jesus replied, ‘Why do you ask me about a good thing? Only God is good. Nobody else. If you want to have real life, then you must obey God's laws.’

18The man asked Jesus, ‘Which laws must I obey?’ So Jesus replied, ‘Do not kill anyone. Do not have sex with anyone who is not your wife. Do not rob anyone. Do not say things that are not true about people.

19Love your father and your mother and obey them. Love other people as much as you love yourself.’

20‘I have always obeyed these laws,’ the young man replied. ‘What else must I do?’

21Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be completely good, then you must do this: You must sell everything that you have. Then give the money to poor people. If you do that, you will have many valuable things in heaven. Then come back and be my disciple.’

22When the young man heard this, he went away. He was not happy. He was feeling sad because he was a very rich man.

23Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘What I say is true. It is very difficult for rich people to let God rule in their lives.

24The hole in a needle is very small. A camel cannot go through it! But I tell you, it is even more difficult than that for a rich person to let God rule in their life.’