Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – August 19, 2019
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God. Luke 12:20-21
Am I building my barns bigger? Or, am I building God’s barns better? Jesus, with striking contrast transitions from two brothers bickering over their inheritance to illustrate a heart of greed. Subtly, wealth simultaneously decreases the need for stuff—with less of a felt need for God. If I act like I am the owner of my possessions, then the acquisition of more possessions becomes my motivation. But, if I live like the Lord is the owner of my stuff, and I am His steward, then the distribution of His possessions becomes my passion. Generosity starves greed.
The parable Jesus unpacks is packed full of emotion, wisdom and warning. He calls out a prosperous man for his foolishness: shortsightedness, self indulgence and self deception. The productive man deceptively thought he owned his possessions: “my crops, my barns, my grain, myself”. The farmer even missed stating the obvious: the Creator of the soil, his soul, and the harvest, was Almighty God. This foolish man failed to be rich toward God by living for himself.
“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever” (2 Corinthians 9:8-9).
Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, was extravagantly rich toward God. He was rich in his relationships by giving personalized encouragement, wisdom and financial generosity. He was rich toward orphans and foster children by providing facilities and opportunities for them to feel loved and taken care of. Though leading a billion dollar company, he lived modestly, so his team members could take off from work on Sundays and take care of their families. Truett famously said about business, “If we focus on becoming better, our customers will demand we become bigger”. As followers of Jesus, if we focus on becoming more like Christ, others will look to learn about following Christ. Being rich toward God is valuing what God values over ourselves.
Here are some questions we can all pray over to assess how rich we are toward God:
What does it mean to be rich toward God? It means to treasure what He treasures: my relationship with Him and others, lost souls, love and compassion for hurting human beings. To be rich toward God is to be rich in good deeds, rich in generosity and rich in relationships.
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, inspire and instruct me to be rich toward you, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Application
What can I learn from the life of Truett Cathy on how to be rich toward God?
Related Reading
1 Chronicles 29:14; Proverbs 3:9, 11:25; Matthew 6:2; Luke 6:30
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To be rich toward God is to be rich in good deeds, rich in generosity and rich in relationships. #rich #Jesus #wisdomhunters
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