A Jewish man asked Jesus to speak to his brother about sharing an inheritance with him. Jesus replied, "Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?" Then Jesus told a story of the consequences of greed which in the scriptures is called 'covetousness'. Here is the story Jesus told. How it resembles so many who seek after riches today and not after God. Listen to it as recorded in Luke 12:15-21:
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16 And spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
Jesus said "A man's life does not consist of the things he possesses". In other words, God measures a person's net worth not based on what he has accumulated in this world's wealth but what we have received of Godly wealth. (Keep reading, I will explain)
Notice that this man had much wealth by man's standard, but was not rich by God's standard. So that brings us to the question: What is God's standard of riches and how is it that standard attained?
I will answer the second part of the question first. How does one attain the riches of God? First of all, God's riches are found in God's kingdom. In order to get His riches, one must first enter His kingdom.
Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." In another place (John 3:3) Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". So to get into the kingdom of God, one must be born again through faith in Jesus Christ. Being born into Jesus Christ is synonymous to being born into the kingdom of God!
To be born again, one must repent (or ask God's forgiveness) for sin. Jesus shed his blood for us so that we might have the opportunity to be forgiven when we ask.
Now, how does one acquire riches by God's standard? God sent Jesus Christ his Son, not only to die for our sins, but to show us through his life how to live. Therefore after being born again we are to grow more and more like Jesus, God's Son. In this way we become richer and richer toward God.
The more we are like Jesus in character, the wealthier we are by God's standard!
If we spend our entire life amassing wealth or attempting to, and are not rich toward God our lives count for nothing; and just like the man in the story, our time also will run out. Then God who is our maker will require our souls to give account to Him!
Don't get me wrong, Jesus was not saying that money is not necessary to live here on Earth, but it is not as important as Godly riches which will prepare us for Heaven. The Bible says He knows that we have need of these things (money, clothes, food, homes, education, a better quality of life). Luke 12:30:
Rather than seeking riches, Jesus says, "But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Luke 12:31) In other words, if we seek after God and what is right according to His standard (Jesus Christ), he will provide for our daily needs as a Father provides for his children.
His point is that if we spend our time seeking after money and things, we might attain them but will be spiritually poverty stricken. However, if we will seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, we will be spiritually rich and He will provide for our earthly needs as well! Believe me, He can provide for us much better than we can. I have experienced His provision time and again!
Repent of your sins and choose to believe in Jesus, and you will become rich in the Kingdom of God!
No comments:
Post a Comment