13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness,[a] for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 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. 19 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.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (NKJ)
14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness,[a] for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 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. 19 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.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (NKJ)
I was watching the God channel a while ago and heard a sermon about this very chapter and verse. I do not know who the preacher was but what he was talking about was interesting. He spoke about tithes and offerings and also if people saw themselves as being rich.
He asked the audience if they felt they were rich. Then he asked various questions like, are you able to replace clothes or fix things when they are broken, are you able to save and do you ever have any left over. By that equation you are rich as you have more than what you need.
He further went on to discuss the actual parable above. A rich man has been blessed with an abundance in his crops. He has far more than what he needs or can currently store in the barns he has already. He decided to build more bigger barns so that he can store all this excess and feels that he will truly be living the good life as he as over an abundance of what he needs. However in his reasoning and his conversation with God he learns of missed opportunity. Instead of being able to sit back and enjoy these new found riches he has passed away and no longer has what he has hoarded.
The verse is not saying that you are not allowed to be rich. However what is the point of being rich when the people around you are not. In what way could your riches or your abundance be used to be a blessing to someone else. After all when you pass away you can no longer control what belonged to you. People will more likely remember you for what you didn't give. Whilst many will decide how to share up what you left behind.
So by using your abundance to be a blessing to someone else does not mean you can not have your luxuries. You can enjoy your abundance just do not get too caught up in your riches that you fail to be a blessing to someone else.
So that is the basically what I am understanding. If you have any other intepretation or angle from this. Please leave a comment. I really would like to know more.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment