Don’t Store Up the Wrong Treasure
In Luke 12 Jesus talks about money and possessions, and He tells a parable in verses 16-21: "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." (Luke 12:16-21)
Those are some convicting words.
Now, I don't believe that it's wrong to save, and be financially wise by storing away and planning for the future. The Proverbs say this: "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest." (Proverbs 6:6-8) Storing away provisions to care for your family and to ensure that you will be able to eat in the future, is, I believe, wise and godly.
The Problem With Hoarding
The problem comes in when we store up so much for ourselves but neglect our relationship with God. Many people get so caught up in growing their business, their portfolio, their assets, their bank accounts - and forget to grow their faith, their wisdom, their holiness. Their energy and thought and time all goes into business, and God gets the scraps - a little piece of time here and there during the week, a Sunday once in a while only. This is not a picture of somebody who is rich towards God, and Jesus' solemn warning in this parable is that such a person will lose all they have prepared and miss out on the real riches that come from a relationship with God.
In fact I love the story of the very wealthy man who was near death. Wanting to insure his place in heaven, he stipulated that all his assets be transferred to gold and be buried with him. When he died, he trudged to the Pearly Gates with his box of gold and presented it to Saint Peter.
Saint Peter looked inside and exclaimed: "Oh, good! We've been waiting for you." The man beamed proudly, only to hear Peter shouting "Michael? The man to make the street repairs is here."
Being Rich Towards God
Don't hoard treasures on earth, friends. Be rich towards God instead - investing more in your relationship with Him and in the work He is doing in the world, than what you invest elsewhere.
Yes, be wise and take care of your future, but don't store up the wrong treasure, when your great call is to be rich toward your God. Perhaps Seneca, the Roman sage, was right, when he said "Money has never yet made anyone rich."
