Rich Relationship With God

Luke 12

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.”

16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

Those of us privileged to live in the United States of America face terrible Spiritual Dangers every day. Those dangers revolve around our consumer mentality. We are addicted to “stuff.” Earthly wealth is abundant in our culture, with even the poorest in this nation counted among the top ten percent of the most wealthy people on the planet. And yes, our wealth gets in the way of our relationship with God. We face great danger of being excluded from the Kingdom of Christ when we worship our wealth instead of our Lord. Every day, I pray that God will help me use stuff to serve people, and not the other way around. Lord, I dedicate my stuff to You, and I desire to give away my wealth so that Your Kingdom can be strengthened.