Devotional Sharing, Submitted by Karen Maghamil, Waypoint Community Church
Count the number of times the words “I” and “my” appear in this passage. What does this reveal about this man? 11 times. His life completely revolves around himself and his own thinking. He doesn’t consult anyone. He doesn’t see his connection with other people, especially God. We didn’t bring ourselves into existence. We are here, and what we have, is from God. Especially something like crops. Crops are largely dependent on rain and sun. This is not something he could produce on his own. But he says with total confidence that he is set for the future. He thinks he has total control over everything that has happened in his life and everything that will happen in his life. He is so illogical and narrow in his thinking. But I see many people who follow the same pattern in their own thinking. They might not have “plenty of good things, laid up for many years,” but they experience frustration and fears over the future because they also think they have to have control and it’s up to them to make it in life. They are trapped by their self-counseling about things like family strife, marriage, job security, and don’t allow God or other people to speak truth.
In what ways am I focused on storing up things for myself? How does this prevent me from being rich towards God? I often try to store up energy, emotions, and time. I am tempted to calculate whether this person or activity is going to burn up too much of my resources, and especially if I’ve had a long day or week or month, I hold back from spending everything. I store up time to spend on things I want to do, thinking that will recharge me, but rest is something that can only come from God. It’s when I feel tight on my own resources, I don’t know how I’m going to make it thru another day, that I can experience God’s provision when I turn to him. And in that way I can grow in richness towards him. When I’m busy storing up for myself, then it prevents me from being dependent on God and experiencing the peace, refreshing, and provision that God wants to give me.
Thinking about other things that people store up - recognition and applause, storing up points with the opposite gender, storing up extra hours at work so that I can build up my bank acct or towards a promotion, storing up material comforts like clothes and gadgets. Storing up these things take a lot of brain power, calculation, and actual time. All this takes away from time to spend thinking about God, reflecting on messages and DT, and prayer. And these things that we store up will all amount to nothing on the day we stand before Christ. We will find that it only robbed us of thinking about heaven and eternity and investing in what really lasts. In the end, a lack of richness towards God equates to a poorer me. I become a self-centered person, hoarding, selfish, unfree, alone, insecure, and fearful. And what the bible calls a fool. Someone who only invests in the here and now, and doesn’t prepare for the day they will meet their maker, is foolish!
Devotion Questions:
- If a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions, what does it consist of?
- What about the rich man’s worldview is revealed in the text?
- Count the number of times the words “I” and “my” appear in this passage. What does this reveal about this man?
- What was missing in this man’s planning?
- What label would our world have on this man? Why is this man finally called a “fool”?
- In what ways am I focused on storing up things for myself? How does this prevent me from being rich towards God?
Commentary:
vv.13-21 Luke next introduced an account unique to his Gospel. A question from the crowd (Luke 12:13) ties this passage to the preceding one and leads to Jesus’ teaching regarding possessions, and in particular on inheritance rights. Jesus rejected the role of arbiter between brothers. He did not come to reconcile such family disputes. On the contrary, his coming would at times divide families (12:51–53). What this individual needed was not some casuistic legal ruling by a religious teacher but a basic understanding of how possessions relate to the purpose of life. Who one is is far more important than what one possesses. The latter is outside a person; the former is within (11:37–54). Jesus also opposed the request because it arose from greed (11:39). Greed is to be rejected, for the meaning and purpose of life is not found in the accumulation of wealth and possessions (12:15; cf. 1 Tim 6:6–10).[1]
[1]Stein, R. H. (2001, c1992). Vol. 24: Luke (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (350). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.