Luke chapter 12 Jesus gives us two serious warnings.
- Beware of spiritual deception and false religion. (V:1)
- Beware of materialistic deception and covetousness. (V:15)
Either extreme can bring destruction to your soul. False religion or materialism. Lord help us to see things as You see them and evaluate life according to Your values and priorities rather than the world’s values.
In today’s text, we learn a valuable lesson from a man who most Americans would consider a successful financial planner, but Jesus called him a fool. Why? Because his priorities were way off. Rather than looking at life through the eyes of eternity and using the value system of the Kingdom of God, he invested in the temporal and not the eternal.
Then one from 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 an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So, he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then who’s will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”” (Luke 12:13–21, NKJV)
Lord, help us to not be distracted by the deceits of materialism and keep our focus and priorities on You!
Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:6–10, NKJV)
Pastor Mike