Greed

Bible In A Year | Read: Luke 12

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.” 22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Luke 12:16-23

Overview of Chapter

Everyone wants to be respected by others and live a comfortable life here on earth, but Jesus teaches that it is God’s view of us and our eternities that matter most.

When we keep our eyes on God and eternity, it changes our view of what we are experiencing; an injustice suffered here matters less and hanging out with the right people becomes less of a priority. On the other hand, being a person of Godly character and helping others matter more.

Thoughts on the verses

We’ve all probably met a very strange rich person. They just seem awkward and somewhat oblivious to how the rest of us live. Ever wonder how they got rich? Ever thought, “were they this weird before they got rich?” Money and stuff have a unique and powerful effect on all of us. And if we’re not careful, we can easily get boxed in by greed.   

Whenever Jesus talked about money and possessions, his main concern was always our heart. He knows material things are major competitors for our heart. He warned his followers to not let their stuff define their life. As we begin to get jobs and move ahead, our hope tends to move from God to our stuff. As we accumulate, our dreams and goals tend to shift from building God’s Kingdom to building our own. 

To keep our hope from migrating, we’ve got to be on our guard. One of the best remedies to guard against future greed is by practicing generosity today. Because in the end, we don’t get credit for what we leave. We get credit for what we give.

Action Steps

Bible: What is God showing me?  What am I going to do about it? 

Bless: Serve one person through word, action, or gift today.