Tuesday – Luke 12:13-21
In this story, a man, wanting a share of his brother’s inheritance, asks Jesus to intervene on his behalf. It was common in this time for families to ask a rabbi to help them mediate tricky family situations. In this case, the man doesn’t get the answer he was looking for. Instead, Jesus tells him not to covet and not to make life about getting a lot of things. Jesus then tells a parable about a rich man who builds new storehouses for his crops, ones larger than the ones he already has. What did the rich man do wrong? Most of us would say he was wise. He had a good retirement plan! He was smart to invest in the larger barns, ensuring he had enough saved up to retire on. The problem is that his life was all about him. He uses “my” to describe all his possessions. My crops. My barns. My goods. My soul. Everything is about him and him being in control of his life. However, when all is said and done, he can’t take it with him, and he will have no say in what happens with his belongings. Bottom line—spend more time focused on the kingdom of God and less time on the kingdom of self. Then, we will be truly rich, rich with God. “For one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (12:15).