“Luke 12:13-21”

Tuesday, June 09, 2020

“Someone in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But He said to him, ‘Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?’ Then He said to them, ‘Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.’ And He told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’”

---End of Scripture Verses---

“Be on your guard against every form of greed” (verse 15). Greed is the desire for more, more, more; and it comes in many different forms. The person who is greedy for pleasure will always be looking for more and newer ways to experience pleasure. He who is greedy for “love” will look for it “in all the wrong places,” and take it where he can find it. The “power junky” always looks for another person, thing or situation to control. And of course, the coveter of money will chase after the almighty dollar, even if it destroys his health, his relationships and his eternal soul in the pursuit. “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

“Not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (verse 15). Most people in our culture measure the value of a person by how much money he is worth. But no price tag can be attached to a human life. And the immortal soul that resides within the human being is infinitely more valuable than all of the money in the world added together (Matthew 16:26). 1 Timothy 6:7 tells us, “We have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.” The most valuable items that we have in our possession are the things we will take with us into eternity: our integrity, our character, our soul. We will never impress the Creator of the universe by the amount of possessions we can amass on earth. Let’s work on valuing the things that God values.

Greedy people seldom if ever think about anyone but self (verses 16-20). The problem with the “rich fool” in today’s parable wasn’t so much that he had a lot of possessions. It was mostly that he left God completely out of the narrative of his life, and that he horded all his possessions to himself. This man was concerned about one person, and only one person. All he could think about was what he had, what he wanted, and what he needed to do in order to keep himself happy and satisfied all the days of his selfish life. Any prosperity we may experience will only be temporary if we aren’t “rich toward God” (verse 21). Let’s remember to give God all the praise and credit for all the good things He has blessed us with in our lives. And then let’s help others who are in need, when we can, realizing that God wants us to be generous to others with His riches, just as He has been generous to us.

“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

Please read Luke 13:1-9 for tomorrow – Jesus teaches repentance.

Have a great day!

-Louie Taylor

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