Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
We’ve all seen this. Family members jockeying for their fair share of an inheritance! It’s never pretty.
Here the Teacher pinpoints the problem - Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’"
"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 anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."The Teacher says it. Money squabbles in light of eternity are foolish!
What does it mean to store up?
ReplyDeleteWhat about being rich toward God?
What about being good stewards of the possessions and monetary means we are blessed with?
How do all these things and the American thoughts of retirement come together?
Where's the balance between taking care of your family (something else we're supposed to do) and being benevolent?
If nothing else, how can we be more "rich towards God"