Luke 12:15-21
Then he said to them, "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.
A friend of mine died today. We were close friends in college, and were both baptized at the same time in one of those christian outreach ministry in school back in 1983. We both participated in the campus ministry that time. After graduation though we parted ways. Throughout the years he strive hard to improve his family's well-being and fate has been kind and he was rewarded with financial success, and a company of his own. But as I understand his commitment to the Lord declined as he focused more energy on his business, and these brought him more financial rewards. So much so he even ignored problems on his health and had not made steps to improve his physical well-being. He wasn't involved in any church, and has less desire to study the scripture. There seems to be no need of it for him.
It was last year 2014 on this same month I last talked to him and though he did not mention his successes, he did talk about his regrets on how any of his children especially the older ones had not finished any college degree and how her eldest daughter went away, got pregnant and gave him sorrow and disappointment. He did have some expectations on his children even though his family had no financial worries and he has given them quite a lavish lifestyle and a house that can only be described as belonging to a well-off family.
However all this expectations & future plans was suddenly cut-off as he was diagnosed with a large brain tumor after consulting a doctor due to symptoms of severe headache. A brain surgery was needed and he undergone this last summer but this proved detrimental and left him in a vegetative state that only his fingers can be used to communicate with people around him. The control functions of his other body members were gone. And to prove matters worse, his brain tumor was found complicated with cancer. After a few months in such a sorry state, he was sent back to the hospital albeit soaring costs to the family that they were forced to loan their house to cover up the expenses. Eventually he succomed this morning after a message from our fellow batch mates, and notices were placed in Facebook for the internment.
The parable of the rich ruler reminds me somewhat of his life. He had so much abundance of crops sufficient for himself that he decided to make plans for storing even more crops. The financial rewards and business success has taken all his attention. He projected himself to have very good years to come in his life. "
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." v19. He forgot he is not immortal, and death came so suddenly and all his earning, his plans went to naught.
While we desire riches and success, truth is, it can be both a blessing and a curse. God does indeed blesses His children with riches, success and excellent well-being. There are several promises in scripture which states this clearly. And if you are observant of the way Christians speak nowadays, its all about victory, success, blessing, etc.. everyone wants the blessing!, quite directly opposite to the NT Christians who are enjoined to suffer and persevere for the name of Christ.
However not only God can give you riches or success, but the devil as well, and the world moved by our own fallen nature. In fact one the temptations offered to Christ is "All these I WILL GIVE YOU, if you will fall down and worship me."
Now while these can be confusing on who's giving you what (Is the success given to me by God or the devil ?) The acid test really is, Given the success or 'blessing', where DOES YOUR ATTENTION go? The devil is quite explicit, 'if you fall down and worship ME', the attention is to him, or more generally, away from God. And the sinful nature focuses on oneself, and not God.
Jesus did not say carelessly when he said,
"It is easier for a camel to enter the hole of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Mat 19:24). Why ? Because with all the talk about 'God will supply all my needs' by the rich, the reality most often is 'My money will supply all my needs.'. There is NO NEED for God when you got everything you need already, or you have the resources to fill in your need. When there is no need, there is no room for faith. For faith presupposes a dependency state and the presence of a helpless need (something you have no control over). Faith always cries, like Peter drowning in the sea,
'Lord save me!' (Mat 14:30)
Financial success grabs your attention, and if you are not careful it can become addictive and eventually a death trap. Nothing consumes the mind of modern man and even professing Christians today than the desire to get rich and be financially well-off.
I suppose my friend reflected his life, and made peace with God during his helpless state after the operation. When you feel trap in your body and has no longer control on your body movement, there is no recourse but to ask God for help. My friends would say he was always found weeping, and since he can no longer communicate I have to assume he had called on God for forgiveness many times and had reflected on God's love from 33 yrs ago when we first dedicated our lives to Him.
Our successes and riches could blind us to the truth that they are temporal, that we are not really in control of our lives, that our lives on earth are limited, and that death can always come unexpectedly.
"For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. " 1Jn2:16
We need to ask God to view our lives and the way we live in view of the eternal, not the temporal,
"to be rich toward God" (v21).
