“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now WHO WILL OWN WHAT YOU HAVE PREPARED?’” (Luke 12:20)
Jesus taught his followers a rather interesting definition of greed. He said that greed is the assumption that everything placed in our hands IS FOR OUR PERSONAL USE. OK then, what are we supposed to do with what we have worked so hard to acquire? The moral of the story Jesus was telling is this:
“So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21)
From this we can see that in God’s eyes: it is not what we possess that makes us rich but what we are WILLING TO SHARE!!! As Jesus illustrated in the parable He shared:
“The land of a rich man was very productive. “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and BUILD LARGER ONES, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘ (Luke 12:16-19)
Here is a common theme in the scriptures, God: “…will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save. He will rescue their life from oppression…” (Psalms 72:13-14)
So, He goes on to say: “Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God WILL BLESS YOU in all your work and in EVERYTHING you put your hand to. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE POOR PEOPLE IN THE LAND. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded…” (Deut. 15:10-11)
When we have this giving attitude, then when we will:
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)
Everything we have belongs to God, so let’s give…Bill Stockham