“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
(Luke 12v21 NIV)
Notice that Jesus didn’t say any mention about giving to the poor.
It is nothing about helping those in need.
You could argue that it was implied.
But that is an assumption we can easily make but it isn’t what He said.
There are two questions here…
- What does He mean by ‘this is how it will be…’?
- How can we or how should we be rich towards God?
The man may have died prematurely.
But we all die eventually.
It is clearly a warning.
But what kind of warning?
He is emphasising a selfishness.
In particular related to wealth.
But is there more to it?
I suspect that Jesus was addressing a wider issue.
It is a matter of the heart.
The man was unexpectedly blessed.
Which was nice.
This would’ve been considered a sign from God.
An indication that they were doing something right.
This might be the only measure they had.
We might be guilty of the same.
Equating material wealth with spirituality.
However, this man gave no thought to God.
He had already been blessed.
This issue arose after the second blessing.
The first was he was already wealthy.
He already was better off than most.
But the second blessing which had nothing to do with his ability to create wealth was his stumbling block.
He should’ve given careful thought as to this blessing.
What was he was supposed to do with it.
He should’ve had another thought.
Instead he took it as his.
He felt in some measure he deserved it.
That it was part of his ability to gain and create wealth.
He missed a significant point.
It wasn’t because of him.
The ground gave it to him.
He hadn’t earned it nor worked for it.
What or who are you working for?