How Are You Preparing For Your Future?

"And he [Jesus] said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' And he told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.  And he said to his disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.'" - Luke 12:15-23

I rose this morning with these verses on my mind. Actually with more, but I will get to them in a minute. For some time, I thought of the parable about the man and his barns as a description of the unsaved and their choosing the riches of this world which will be left behind over an eternal inheritance as a child of God. But, in context, Jesus went on to tell his disciples that they should not "be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing"

The temptation we all face is to be willing to give only some of our trust and devotion to God, but not all of it.  It is not really about the "things" that we have around us. The problem is that we trust in those things and not in God who made those things and us. Do you remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira?

"But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?" - Acts 5:1-3

Both Ananias and Sapphira died that day. I thought they were punished for their lack of faith and withholding from God. Then I connected what they did - withheld money to "build bigger barns" so to speak, but the Lord said to them (through Peter)  ‘Fools! This [day]your souls are required of you, and this money you have kept back for yourselves, whose will it be?’. The lesson is the same. We must be good stewards of what the Lord has given us, but not let our devotion drift to loving what we are stewards of more than God. A steward is someone who tends to things that they don't own. For the man with the barns and Ananias and Sapphira, God was saying, "You don't get it. You are worried about what is temporary and neglecting what is eternal. When you breath your last breath, only the eternal will be all that matters. And today is the day!"

We all have feet of clay and we all struggle with this problem. My point to you is to is that we must always be on our guard. Being good stewards can lead to the things we steward commanding our devotion. God owns it all.

"The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein." - Psalm 24:1

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone