Then Jesus used this story: "There was a rich man that had some land. His land grew a very good crop of food. The rich man thought to himself, 'What will I do? I have no place to keep all my crops.' Then the rich man said, 'I know what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger barns! I will put all my wheat and good things together in my new barns. Then I can say to myself, I have many good things stored. I have saved enough for many years. Rest, eat, drink, and enjoy life!' But God said to that man, 'Foolish man! Tonight you will die. So what about the things you prepared for yourself? Who will get those things now?' This is how it will be for the person that saves things only for himself. To God that person is not rich." (Luke 12:16-21)
Count the number of times the words “I,” “my” and “myself” appear in this passage. 14 times. What do you think this reveals about this man? Might it be that his life completely revolves around himself and his own thinking? He doesn’t consult anyone or think of anyone else; he speaks of no relationship with others…especially God. What a lonely way to live.
On the contrary, we certainly didn’t bring ourselves into existence, nor did God create us to live in isolation. Can you think of anything that you do that you don’t interact with someone else or that isn’t dependent on someone else at some point? We are here with others, and what we have comes to us from God. Particularly relevant to this story, crops are certainly something that one cannot produce or control by oneself – not even the rich man! Crops are dependent on rain and sun, and certainly the rich man was not out in the fields harvesting the crops by himself; he had to have laborers to help him store all his “wheat and good things.” Yet this story is all about himself and his “total control” over everything that had happened in his life and everything that was going happen in his life, or so he thought.
Wow. How many people do you come into contact with that follow this same pattern of thinking? How many times do you catch yourself with similar thoughts? Sure, we may or may not have “plenty of good things, laid up for many years,” yet we continuely experience frustration and fears over the future because we believe we have to be in control and that it is up to us to “make it in life.” What a trap.
Let’s think on this…In what ways are we focused on storing up things for ourselves? How often do we try to store up energy, emotions, and time? Aren’t we often tempted to calculate whether this person or activity is going to burn up too much of our resources, especially if we’ve had a long day or week or month. Aren’t we prone to store up time to spend on things we want to do, thinking that they will recharge us... Storing up these things take a lot of brain power, calculation, and actual time. And all this “storing up” takes away from time in prayer, time spent thinking about God, reflecting on his messages and focusing on how to use what he’s given us for something beyond ourselves.
True rest and blessing is something that can only come from God. It’s when we feel tight on our own resources and we don’t know how we’re going to make it through another day, that we can experience God’s provision. It is only in complete surrender that we can grow in richness towards him. When we’re busy storing up for ourselves, then we are prevented from being dependent on God and experiencing the peace, refreshment, and provision that God wants to give us.
In the end, a lack of richness towards God equates to us being poorer. Let’s we rethink what makes us “rich” so that our foolishness is minimized and our strength is spent on things of God.
Prayer: Creator God, we know that you did not create us to walk this earth alone or live our lives for ourselves. Forgive us our selfishness and help us to open our hearts and minds to your regeneration of life, love and joy in the midst of helping people who are hurting and suffering. Help us Lord, to find balance and not be so dependent on storing up time and treasure but more focused on being dependent on YOU, and how you are calling us to spend all that you have given us for your purposes. Thank you for your gift of life. Amen
