A man comes to Jesus and asks Him to tell his brother to share his inheritance.
Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Jesus goes on to tell them this parable of a rich man whose harvest was so great that he decided to build bigger barns to store them.
Luke 12:18-19 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
Wow! This guy decided all this blessing was for him. That now he could go on easy street. Why share the wealth or invest it in others, how about I build bigger barns and keep it all for myself.
Jesus, in the telling of this parable, fully expresses how God feels about this:
Luke 12:20-21 “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?’ 21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
God abruptly ended this man’s life, leaving his wealth uncelebrated. All we possess is from God, and to God it all returns. We are but stewards, not owners. Our very breath is His gift, and He holds the power over our existence. He sustains all, reminding us that our true calling is not to hoard but to steward with gratitude, humility, and generosity.
God wants us to be generous with what we have. Jesus said we should be rich towards God. I think every person needs to wrestle with what exactly that means. For some, it may mean helping certain people or organizations; for others, it might mean something entirely different, but it doesn’t mean finding more creative ways to please ourselves. Greed and often financial security is an attempt to circumvent the reality of all of us being dependent on God regardless of our bank statements or our investments.
Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
