Luke 12:16-21

Luke 12:16-21

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’¹⁸ “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. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’²⁰ “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 whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

After spending the last month in third and fourth world countries this passage has really renewed meaning for me.  Over the past month I have spent much of my time with people who have very little yet have an abundance of joy.  From our perspective here in the US, one might ask, how is that possible?

Especially when in our culture it seems that happiness or joy is based on what or how much of something one has.  Or how secure their future is or whether or not all of our wants are being met.  This was epitomized the other night when I was watching HGTV House Hunters.  A single man was living get this in a 5000 square foot home with 2 dogs.  He was looking to downsize and had over $500,000 as a budget.  He ended up choosing a 2800 square foot home on a golf course.  But at the end of the show he is quoted saying this house is to small so I am adding a 2000 square foot addition.  I was blown away and thought to myself how sad.  

On the contrary I sat in a home no bigger than 10x15 that housed a couple and 5 children in a slum.  They had enough room for a very small bed and some cooking utensils.  I heard the testimony of the mother as she shared about her love for Jesus and her desire to serve Him.   I heard her ask us to pray that their home would stand the monsoon rains that would inevitably be coming.  I heard her ask us to pray for safety for their family.  I heard her ask us to pray for her husband to find work and a good paying job.  But most importantly I heard her praising the God for all that He has blessed them with and given to her family.

The reality of this verse rings true as I think about this man and this woman, and as I think about my own life.  The problem is not necessarily in the things, though the Bible is clear not to store up treasures here on earth.  The problem is the very last part of the very last verse, "rich toward God."  I am confident that someone cannot pursue material possessions and be rich toward God.  That does not mean that someone cannot have great wealth and do great things for God, because I have seen that in action as well.  But what it does mean is simply what Jesus himself said, "you cannot serve both money and God, either you will love the one and hate the other."  The man as far as I could tell had no real contentment which honestly can only come from God.  The woman had joy, contentment and a desire to serve God.  I want to be like the woman, I want to be so dependent on God that I cannot help but praise Him for the smallest of things.  I cannot help but turn to Him when needs arise.  I cannot help but realize without Him I have nothing and am nothing.  The allurement of this life we live in the US is strong but may we realize that in an instant it can all be gone.  May we hold loosely to things of this earth and tightly to things of God.