“Rich Toward God”

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:13-21

Jesus taught a great deal about money, and yet He never asked for an offering. He taught extensively on the subject that nothing clogs our spiritual arteries more quickly than money – either working to have a lot of it or wishing that we had.

Beware of coveting things. Life is not about coveting money. It is about the richness of our relationship with Him and the joy of turning our greed into generosity.

Learning how to be rich toward God yields eternal dividends.

Our Daily Bread – September 9, 2009