Luke 12:13-21
This statement, “The one who ends
up with the most toys wins,” exposes the darkness of our culture. It is a culture built on greed and self, it
has not one thing to do with need and it is not confined to those with wealth, for
the culture of self and greed is found in the human heart, not in
prosperity. It is not a new problem for
Doctor Luke gives this account of Jesus dealing with this issue in Luke
12:13-15,
“Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher,
tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard
against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of
his possessions.” (Luke 12:13-15 ESV) Now that did not play well when Jesus said it,
nor does it hit a high note in our culture, and I can prove it with little
effort. You can have a brand new house
and only live in it for a few years, then you go to a home show where you are
looking at homes way above your price range, and your wanting nature kicks in. In sales we called this a want creator, a
desire for something one does not need but they want it. Shopping Malls are want creators, so is Cabela's
to the sports person, and Golfsmith
to the golfer, and they make one desire
something that is not needed or they cannot afford.
Jesus was raining on man’s parade and
on the culture of self and greed when He said; “Take care, and be
on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the
abundance of his possessions.” God has not changed, it was true when Jesus
said it and it is true today. Greed is
often built on wanting what you did not work for, being jealous of the one who
has put their possessions at risk to build and employ others.
I believe there has
never been a time in history where people have put their trust in paper printed
on a machine. That is what we call the
dollar that is backed up by promises of people no one believes because they
have proven to be untruthful. Folks, it is
a house of cards, and that is not as good as the one the man build on sand and
we know that when the storms came it crumbled for lack of a foundation.
Listen to this parable Jesus told the people: “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I
have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do
this: I will tear 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.” I’m fearful
that many have that false belief in today’s society, and it’s all
based on false dependence of our 401K, retirement pension, and savings or
wealth. It is of the utmost importance
to grasp what God had to say to the rich man in the story: “But
God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things
you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for
himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:20-21 ESV)
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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