Money Talks
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15Then 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."
16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He 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 all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things 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 anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Bee's Thoughts:
As I search for the meaning on "greed" I came across the following Definition Of Greed
- Obsessed With Abundance Over God
- Never Satisfied
- Wants Everything For Free
- Greed Always Works Under False Pretenses
The above passage links "all kinds of greed" to "abundance... possessions" (v14). Greed causes us to want more than we need and causes us to have wrong priorities in life. We may work so hard for the extra money that we don't need and thereby give no time to God or to people who need our time.
Like what a speaker said yesterday, we need to learn to simplify things in our life. Some of the things to simplify are:
- our purpose
- our priority
When we can do this, greed will not be able to control our life.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for reminding me not to be greedy in any way but to show love for others. Help me do what's right in Your sight, Lord.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Tommy's Thoughts:
Today, we face constant pressure to buy and own the best and the latest products in the market. Most of the times, these expensive enticements are neither important nor something we truly need. We fool our selves by thinking they will make us happier, more fulfilled, and more comfortable? It doesn’t takes long before we get tired and bored with these ‘toys’, dumping them and seek out new replacement to fill our emptiness.
Jesus in today passage says a truly good life has nothing to do with worldly possessions and wealth. He also warns us to be on guard against greed because of our desire for what we don’t have. Although, there is nothing wrong to have money or to work hard for it, but we need to be aware of not focusing solely in accumulating earthly, perishable wealth and disastrously neglecting things with eternal value.
We need to start tuning out unnecessary spending or short-sighted planning. Instead, we should make good use of what God has given us for His kingdom. Our mind and heart should always concentrate on living in a close relationship with God, doing His work and to have goals beyond our short life here on earth.
Dear Father, thank You for Your clear and precise lesson today. Thank You for showing to me about having true values and priorities and that faith, service and obedience are the way to become rich toward You. Lord, I pray that You will continue to guide and strengthen me to wisely use what I have been given to promote Your glory and aid in the extension of your kingdom here on earth. In Jesus’ mighty Name I pray, Amen.
