WATCHWORD:
13 Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” 15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Luke 12:13-15
19 Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” Matthew 8:19-20
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.” Luke 16:14-15
Meditation:
Being Rich
Are you rich? No? Are you poor? No? For each of us, one answer is right and one answer is wrong.
Real life and real living are not related to how much cash, stocks or investments you have. There are no dollar signs connected to our real wealth, our richness. There are two ways of being rich—have a lot, or want very little. While in the deep recesses of our thinking, we might aspire for more, adjusting our wants is easier, more attainable, for most of us. Many people make themselves miserable by wanting more than they can ever have, or actually need. They suffer from “thingitis,” an insatiable desire for more, better, and newer things.
There is a comment on Crown Network that applies here –
“Those who believe that riches are a sign of God’s blessing, advocate what is commonly referred to as the Prosperity Gospel. This teaches that you can command God to prosper you financially, that when you give you can expect a larger financial increase in return, and that your spending can be extravagant and carefree. This false theology is in contradiction to the many Scriptural warnings against greed, selfishness, coveting, idolatry, and the love of money. You should be on your guard to identify and reject the teachings of the Prosperity Gospel as well as the other extreme, the Poverty Gospel. This false teaching claims that money and possessions are evil, that rich people are greedy and sinful, that being poor makes you more righteous in God’s eyes, and that spending brings guilt and condemnation.”
So, what is the answer? Jesus was the most satisfied man that ever lived, and He had less than most of us. “The foxes have their holes, and the birds their nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay His head.” He had learned the secret of adjusting His wants to His needs.
Stanley Jones tells about a poor man who had an overnight guest, and as he showed him to his humble bedroom in the hayloft, he said, “If there is anything you want, let us know, and we’ll come and show you how to get along without it.”
We don’t need to learn how to get more, but how to get along with what we’ve got. It’s that part that we need to surrender to the Lord, and get on with the business of living well. Amen.
Bulletin Board:
This day I conclude my travels to loved ones near and far. It has been a blessed time of celebration, happiness and joy. A family of love struggling with changes in life, another family successfully negotiating the ups and downs of home-schooling, and accomplishment, the pride of witnessing the graduation of a granddaughter, and the joy of working in the soil of my daughter and son-in-law’s wonderous cactus nursery. There is something just plain wonderful in shedding tears of love and getting one’s hands dirty doing good. That is another way of being rich, don’t ya think?
Closing Prayer:
Father, You have given me so much more than I deserve. May I always show a grateful, compassionate and contented heart. Amen.
