Making Life Safe
We want to make life safe. We take out insurance policies for if something breaks or is lost or stolen. We want to feel secure.
We also want to make sure that we have our fair share…
Kate Jewell [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Luke 12:13-21
A Rich Fool
13 A man in a crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us when he died.”
14 Jesus answered, “Who gave me the right to settle arguments between you and your brother?”
15 Then he said to the crowd, “Don’t be greedy! Owning a lot of things won’t make your life safe.”
16 So Jesus told them this story:
A rich man’s farm produced a big crop, 17 and he said to himself, “What can I do? I don’t have a place large enough to store everything.”
18 Later, he said, “Now I know what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I can store all my grain and other goods. 19 Then I’ll say to myself, ‘You have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’”
20 But God said to him, “You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up?”
21 “This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God.”
The age-old family argument. Dad’s estate hasn’t been split fairly – allegedly. The man seems to think that sorting out his finances will make his life safe.
Jesus points out the same thing as the Psalmist: having all the wealth in the world, will not save you from the inevitable end we all reach, rich or poor, we all die. Storing up anything – money, food, a good life-insurance policy – none of it is of eternal significance.
Building barns and filling them with our crops, creating for ourselves symbols of our wealth and status are not what count.
The important thing is true riches – knowing God, loving others well, making life better for those around us. They are God’s ways.
Lord,
may I know
what is important
– and seek that.
Help me not to be
distracted
by things that others may judge
of value
and worth;
but always to seek you.
May you,
and you alone
be my guide
and my measure
Pam's Perambulation 
amen!
and I love the music! particularly loved the opening image of the sun shining behind the storm clouds – very powerful.
thanks.
🙂
🙂
[…] way to access it, is to make sure we aren’t holding tightly on to other things. Like the Rich Fool last week, it is making sure your security is in the right place. Not in assets, but in heaven. […]