Most of us have at one time or another, dreamed about what it would be like if a distant relative left us a fortune. We have sat around and asked one another, “What would you do if you won the lottery?” What would you do with all that money? Oh, how we love to dream!
In verses 16-21, Jesus tells the story: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “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 whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
A certain man had a great year with his crops. The man had such a good crop that he had nowhere to store the huge abundance. So he decided to build bigger storage facilities and then he could retire and live off the income the crops would produce. So he built his barns, bought a nice rocking chair and sat out on the porch convinced that he had finally arrived at the “good life”.
What he didn’t realize was that that very night he was going to die. Perhaps he had a heart attack, maybe it was a stroke, maybe he had an accident . . . it doesn’t matter. The point was that this man put all his effort into storing up earthly riches but gave little to no thought for investing in the riches of Heaven. He had spent his life building a treasure others would consume . . . and he would head into eternity with nothing!
We like the first part of this story. The man is a success. What’s wrong with that? Is it wrong to make a good living? Does it displease God is we run a successful and profitable business? Is it wrong to make investments and to save for retirement?
The answer is no. None of those things are wrong.
The ability to work comes from the Lord. Wisdom, insight, understanding, and ideas come from the Lord. All of this is a blessing.
Yet, there is a place where money becomes a problem for us. It’s a very subtle line. Most of us don’t think this is a problem for us. I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone who admitted to the sin of greed. It’s very subtle. It’s often hard to know when you have crossed the line. But usually, it happens when, very quietly, we begin believing the lies that money tells us.
Lies:
His focus was only on this temporary world. He lived without any thought for eternity. This is why Jesus called him a fool. He is not called a fool for being a successful farmer and for owning a profitable business. But he forgot about what was most important. The shortest part of your existence is your life on earth. We are going to live for eternity in either Heaven or Hell. We have to prepare for eternity.
This story teaches us:
• Our first priorities are the things that are eternal
Matthew 16:26 – “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
Today’s Challenge: Guard your heart. Greed slips in so easily. We guard our hearts by valuing Jesus above all things and by making sure we don’t let money, careers, and possessions come before our relationship with God.
