September 10, 2024

Luke 12.20, 21 (NIV)

“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.”

It is redemptive to have seasons of great accomplishment, followed by dark evenings of soulful searching.This is how wisdom accumulates.*

As I waited to hear about a job I had applied for, I was learning about patience. But as I waited and prayed, something else was bothering me – something I couldn’t quite identify. Then one night as I was preparing for my quiet time, the parable of the rich man just popped into my head. So, I looked it up in my Bible, read it, and thought, “Okay. Now what?” I then picked up the Christian publication I had been reading and the next article opened with the same verses I had just read. By the time I finished reading, God had revealed to me the reason for my discomfort: I was feeling guilty for praying for this job because it paid a lot of money!

Because I found the article so helpful in putting my guilt in perspective, perhaps these excerpts will bless you as well:

• “What Jesus sees and disdains in the rich fool is an attitude. The man thought money (and what he did with it) was his own business. He didn’t think his money was any of God’s concern.” 
• "Salaries, inheritances, investments – all means by which God shares his riches. They are signs of his grace and goodness, not of our competence and personal worth." 
• “We manage, oversee, invest, take care of resources he has entrusted to us. And then, ultimately, we use those resources for his purposes.” 
• "'What does God want me to do with the treasures given to me?’ becomes the critical question. God wants me to enjoy, but he also wants me to bless.”*

My prayer that night was that I would not forget who owns everything and who it is that lets me borrow his things. (By the way, I got the job!)

God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.*