WEDNESDAY
This week we are looking at how we should say, “If the Lord wills,” when making our plans. We should always factor the will of the Lord into our plans.
Jesus teaches this same principle that we have been seeing in the book of James the last couple of days. In Luke 12 Jesus teaches a parable of wealthy man who makes plans without surrendering to the will of the Lord.
Luke 12:13–21 13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 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.” 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “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. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ 20 “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?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
The point of this parable is in verses 15 and 21. Don’t be greedy. Life does not consist of the abundance of wealth. Therefore, it is foolish to store up treasure for ourselves and not be rich towards God. Greed is a major obstacle to spiritual growth. Wealth should not prevent us from being rich towards God. With the fleeting nature of life (James likens it to a mist that appears for a little while, then vanishes) God can require it of us according to his will at any time. What, then, becomes of our wealth and all of our striving after it?
The man in the parable gives no hint of recognizing God as the source of the blessing of his good crop. He gives no thought to how God would have him use his new-found wealth. He simply goes ahead with his selfish desire to live a life of luxury.
Yet his decision to build bigger barns to store his crop is reasonable and prudent. As with the teaching of James, I don’t think Jesus is using this parable to condemn the man for planning and building bigger barns. He isn’t condemning having wealth either. Instead, he is simply using this story to reveal that the selfish pursuit of wealth, as the young man who asked the question was doing, is pointless in the grand scheme of life. It is wise to be rich towards God whether one has possessions or not.
Being rich towards God would involve this man thanking God for the blessing of this abundant harvest, recognizing that it was a blessing from God. It would mean giving back to God at least a tenth of his harvest. It would mean leaving plenty for the poor to come and glean and find food. Then, perhaps, building bigger barns to store his harvest.
In the context of our topic for this week, simply saying, “If the Lord wills, I will build bigger barns,” would have reminded the man of the fleeting nature of his life and drawn his attention towards doing God’s will with his wealth.
Reflection
Do what the man in Jesus parable failed to do. Always remember the fleeting nature of your life. You are not guaranteed tomorrow, so focus on being rich towards God. Thank God for whatever wealth you have. It is a gift from him. Surrender to God’s will in regard to what you will do with your savings and what you will do with your surplus. Be sure to give generously, not just from your surplus but as the primary priority. Don’t just default to, “…take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” Instead, commit your plans to the will of the Lord in regard to your retirement, vacations, whatever you are planning to do with the surplus of your wealth. Remember to at least say, “If the Lord wills, I will take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” Don’t let your wealth become an obstacle to living a life rich towards God.