Mark 10:23-27 And Jesus looked round about, and said to his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!… How many can form any estimate as to whether it is best for them to be prosperous or not? If I should consult the wheat growing in spring in the field as to what was best for it, the wheat would say, "Let me alone. Let the rain feed me. Let the winds gently strengthen me. Let me grow to my full height and size." But ah! the land on which that wheat is sown is over-rich; and if the wheat grows to its full height and size, it will be so fag and heavy that it will break, and fall down, and be lost. So the farmer turns in his cattle, and they browse the wheat. They eat it down to the ground. And by and by, later, when it is allowed to grow, it has been so weakened by this cruel pasturage that it will not become so rank as to break down, but will stand erect, and carry its head up, and ripen its grain. Many men will bear browsing. They get too fat, and cannot carry themselves upright and firm, and they break and fall down; and the best of them lies in the dirt; and all that stands up is straw and stubble...Who knows what is best for him? Some men can endure prosperity, and some cannot; but who can discriminate between them? (H. W. Beecher.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! |
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