Daily Office – June 30, 2009

June 30, 2009 by  

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 those who store up things for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

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  • http://bryanchrisphotography.com Bryan

    I’ve never really noticed the last phrase, “…but are not rich toward God.” That’s an interesting way of putting it. Kind of backs up the idea that it’s OK to be rich, as long as you’re not being self-centered and greedy.

    I also like Jesus’ initial response. That’s about as close as Jesus gets to a WTF? moment. Then he moves right on to “here’s what the real problem is…” Jesus always has a great way of condensing the nonsense. I love it.

  • http://www.lehman-family.com Andy

    But again it talks about being greedy and i dont know if there is a way to be rich and not have that be greedy. i dont know just a thought

    • http://bryanchrisphotography.com Bryan

      It must be possible. Abraham, Job, David, and Solomon all had more than their share of wealth. And what’s more, that wealth is often attributed to the blessing of God upon them.

      I’m not tryin’ to get all Joel Osteen… just picking apart what’s there.

      • Matt

        The rich thing is definitely something that we’re going to have to try to break down when we do our study of Luke, for example, what do you do with this from Luke 6:

        “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”

        Or this from Mary’s song:

        “He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.”

        Luke (and James for that matter) often state things in a matter of fact way that make it seem as if being rich is wrong, period. Perhaps this is poetic hyperbole (I mean, Jesus even uses that at times) but it certainly requires more study. I’m looking forward to it!

        • http://twitter jamie

          While all of that is indeed true, God also told us that he would pour us out blessings that we wont have room enough to recieve. He chose David to be King. He blessed Job with even more then he had previous. He caused Joesph to be sold into slavery, only to become second in command of all of Eygpt. Therefore being rich is not the sin or sinful, God wants his ppl to prosper! All of his promises are yes and Amen. He is the Lord of my life, health, and finances. They are belong to Him!

      • http://www.lehman-family.com Andy

        True!

  • Matt

    I find the line “all kinds of greed” to be very interesting. Jesus then follows it up talking about possessions, so that gives me the impression that the “all types” doesn’t mean with things other than wealth, but rather the “all types” of excuses that we have to justify our wealth. I can think of lots of reasons to store up my surplus, but maybe all of those reasons are “all types of greed.”

  • Matt

    Another good question as I continue to think…what does it mean to be “rich toward God?”

  • http://www.dobox.com/ Bruce

    But again it talks about being greedy and i dont know if there is a way to be rich and not have that be greedy. i dont know just a thought