Read Luke 12:13-21
I’m Rich! I’m Rich! I’m Rich!
As Jesus was speaking, a person said to Jesus, “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus responded that he was not an arbiter between this man and his brother and then went on to say to the crowd, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in abundance of possessions.”
Jesus then goes on to tell the parable of a man whose crops yielded an abundant surplus and his concern was “How can I benefit from this?” His plan was to build newer and bigger storage Barns to store everything so he could take life easy and eat, drink, and be merry!
But God called him a fool. This man was so concerned with his life of today that he was blind to the fact that God may call his life tomorrow. Such a man’s pursuit of all these riches and possessions were futile. He focused so much on riches toward self and neglected the pursuit of being rich toward God.
I’m not saying a rich person can’t be a Christian. I am challenging the heart of the person who is Rich, or the person wanting to be rich. A poor man buying lottery tickets every day in pursuit of being rich is no different than the rich man who continues pto focus on ways to become even more Rich for self.
I’m also not saying we shouldn’t work hard and earn more money. We need to be hard workers and be proud, not prideful, of that which we earn. The problem lies within our inner heart. How does God fit into all of our pursuits? How are we building up treasures for heaven? How are we trying to get rich towards God? What does it profit a man or woman if they gain the whole world but yet lose their soul in hell? Are we so busy with making money and gaining possessions that we neglect our time with the Lord in daily devotions and in church fellowship? Do we neglect the needy and neglect investing into the lives of others in hopes of seeing them come to know Jesus? Think more on how we can become a blessing to those around us versus focusing on the next new Iphone. We would be wise to get this figured out and then do something about it. Otherwise, tomorrow we may die and we’ll stand before God and be called a fool because we made our lives all about us and not all about the Lord Jesus.
