Dare 2 Share - "But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:20-21
It might have been the day after a great feast, or it might have been the day after a family gathering, we don’t know for sure. What we do know is that in Luke 12 there were two brothers who went to Jesus to settle an apparent “financial” matter. Evidently the younger brother was more than a little annoyed that his older sibling was going to get the family farm, while he was left with nothing. So he goes to Jesus and appeals to the authority of the Son of God to force his brother to divide the inheritance with him. After all, it only seems fair that big brother should cut him a little slack and boost his bank account- right?
So you might expect Jesus to say: “You’re right, that seems to be the evenhanded way, let’s sit down and see how we can divide this up equally.” Yet to our surprise, Jesus doesn’t even address the man’s request directly. Instead, he uses this incident to teach us a very valuable lesson about greed. He goes on to tell the story about a guy who had a banner year, but instead of being generous, this tightfisted tightwad decides to just build bigger barns and take life as easy as possible. Jesus then goes on to tell us that God spoke to this man directly, calling him a “fool” and demanding his life.
Why such a harsh ending? After all, this man was a hard working conservative fellow who was only trying to build up his nest egg- right? Wrong. In point of fact, this man was a materialistic, self-indulgent dimwit who forgot where all possessions come from in the first place.
What Jesus was trying to get across to the two brothers is the same thing He is trying to communicate to us: don’t be a blessing buffoon. What’s a blessing buffoon?
-A person who always thinks he/she never has enough
-A person who is jealous of other people’s blessings
-A person who accumulates wealth only to spend it on himself/herself
-A person who is not “rich towards God”
This weekend was a reminder of all the amazing blessings we have. My guess is that you have a roof over your head, clothes to wear, and food to eat. Perhaps you have so many blessings that you are wondering how you can tighten your grip on them. That’s the wrong question. The question should be: how can I use my blessings to further the Kingdom of God?
Let’s stop making the “bigger barn” plans, and focus on the “bigger Kingdom” strategy. Give of your money, time, and efforts to glorify Christ. Loosen up your greedy grips and share with those within your sphere of influence. Most importantly, let somebody in on the greatest blessing you have: salvation by grace alone. Don’t bury the gospel message in your brain barn, spread the word to everyone you meet- because you may not have the chance tomorrow.
Questions:
1) How “rich” am I towards God?
2) Am I content with what I have? Why or why not?
3) How many people in my circle know about the greatest treasure of all?
