Luke 12: 13-26 Friday, 25 September 2020
“So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God”- Luke 12:21 [NASB]
The Bible is a book that deals with every aspect of human life! The attitude of man especially that of a believer, towards wealth is well defined! Here Jesus talks about the attitude of a rich man towards the abundance he received from his crops! He decided to amass them for self-aggrandizement!
In Luke 12: 20 a question that God asks the rich man is of vital importance for us today. God the Creator of man, who knows the end before the beginning , who has authority over time and who owns the entire wealth of the universe, has set certain principles for man to enjoy wealth. When you don’t follow the divine prerogatives governing wealth, you end up in self –gratification and you become the god of your life!!
Both the Old and New Testaments provide well defined guidelines to God’s people on their attitude to wealth and the modalities of how to handle wealth. In the parable here, Jesus talks about laying down clear priorities in life. People often go after making wealth at the cost of other valuable things such as spiritual life, relationships, health and even legitimate enjoyment!! Finally they end up having achieved nothing in life, but accumulated wealth that would be enjoyed by somebody else!! What a tragedy! But God does not want that to happen to us – therefore He gives simple instructions easy for all to follow. To become “rich toward God” is a powerful way of telling us that God expects us to focus all our energy, our abilities and our resources towards acquiring that which God regards valuable – things that have some worth before God.
Let us try to unravel some key principles in the Bible concerning wealth that should guide our lives, intended for our blessing!!
Luke 6:38- Give and it will be given to you.
Acts 20:35 “….remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Heb.13:5 – Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have
1 Timothy 6:10- “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil.”
1 Timothy 6:6- “But godliness is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.”
Deuteronomy 29:14 -For all things come from you, and from Your hands we have given You.
God warned His children (Israelites) that they should not say in their hearts that their power and strength of their hand made their wealth for them. All Wealth belongs to God— nobody can claim to have generated wealth. We do no create it – it is already available and we are allowed to enjoy a portion of it during our life time. So don’t boast about wealth- because life is more valuable than money. Though we can buy medicine, we cannot buy healing! Though we can buy good food we cannot buy health. Though we can buy a good house to live, we cannot buy longevity! If the pursuit of our lives is to make money, then we will lose heaven! In Mark 10:23-27, Jesus said plainly that those who trust in their riches will not enter into the kingdom of God.
In the kingdom of God, giving brings in more, whereas it is the opposite in the world!! God says to share our wealth – God challenges Israelites to test Him by bringing all the tithes to His house. For the New Testament believer, it is not tithe (10%) he brings, but more!! When Jesus commented on what the widow put in the treasury (Mark 12:41-44), it pointed to how much was left over— nothing! It does not matter how much we give, but it does matter how much we keep back. When we give to God, we are honouring God! When give to others we are honouring God!!
Give – then you will start your account in heaven, start becoming rich toward God!
Think on: “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” 1 Timothy 6:17