David Leventhal

“Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. He then told them a parable, ‘the land of a certain rich man produced an abundant crop, so he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. And I will say to myself, ‘You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Observations:

1. Life is not defined by how much stuff you own. In God’s economy you aren’t winning because you have lots of possessions and conversely, those with less aren’t considered failures. In fact, I believe a case could be made that the opposite is true.

2. Greed is the default mode for man. Our natural tendency is to build bigger barns and store up our goods. We don’t have to be told to guard against being generous because that’s not natural. We are told to guard against all types of greed.

3. Longevity of life is not tied to the size of one’s portfolio. There are no future guarantees. All we have is the last breath from our lungs. God makes no promises about the next one. When our appointed time comes an extension will not be granted based on our bank account.

4. A world view that assumes what you have earned belongs to you might produce temporary comfort but is not biblical. God does not place a premium on building bigger barns. Excess should be used to further His work on earth. I am crushed & left gasping for air under the weight of this observation.

5. Our life is like a loan. At some point, not defined by us, our maturity date will arrive. Our owner will demand it back.

6. Being rich towards God is infinitely better than being rich toward self. We demonstrate richness towards God by:
     a. Using our financial abundance as mechanism to help meet the needs of others (2 Cor. 8:14)
     b. Stepping in to assist the downtrodden/oppressed/helpless (Luke 10:30ff & Matthew 25:34ff)
     c. Utilizing our spiritual gifts for the building up of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:7ff)
     d. Loving our enemy & praying for those who persecute you ( Matthew 5:43ff)
     e. Serving those from whom we expect to get nothing in return (Luke 14:12ff)
     f. Caring for widows & orphans (James 1:27)
     g. Being the kind of leader that serves others (John 13:1ff)