Storing Up Treasures

The Parable of the Rich Fool: Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”  Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.  And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Points To Consider: 

Jesus refuses to arbitrate. Something else must compel his brother's actions.

In the scriptures, an abundant harvest is considered a blessing from God.

Would not any prudent manager choose to expand their storage capacity?

Wherein lies the problem?

"Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."

God's blessings are entrusted, not possessed.

The Grace I Seek:

Lord, teach my heart to value wisely. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Mtt. 6:20

My Prayer Reviewed and Journal

• This meeting with the Lord, time and place.
• The scripture passage that was chosen.
• Presence - the character of your attentiveness - your sense of the Lord's presence.
• Did you come with certain questions, certain needs, 
• What was your state of mind?
• What in the scripture passage caught your attention? Why?
• How did you picture the scene in the scripture passage?
• Which characters did you identify with - inspired you, most resembled you?
• What images were you left with?
• Characterize the way your spirit is moving.
• What, if any, message were you left with?

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"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'… Mtt. 25:34