In Luke 12, Jesus told a parable about a rich man, who was only consumed with his riches and possessions. In verses 15-21, we read these words, “And he 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.'”
We live in a possession and wealth focused world. We have so many possessions that we don’t even need or even look at. I see more and more of those multi-storage units being built here around Atlanta, and I think – “Why do so many people need extra storage?” Because we are focused on what we can accumulate, and our treasure is here in this world. We want prosperity and satisfaction that all these possessions will never provide, yet that is what we continue to seek after.
I remember when I moved to Atlanta over 17 years ago. People told me, “Joshua, you need this, you need that!” “Joshua, you need a sofa, chairs, tables, decorations, etc., etc.,” And, now I look at all these things and ask “Why did I spend my money on this stuff? I don’t even use a lot of it!” Thomas Watson (1620-1686) once wrote, “People are usually better in adversity, than prosperity. A prosperous condition is not always so safe. True, it is more pleasing to the flesh – but it is not always best.”
The only place we should be putting our “treasure” is in Heaven! Our only point in this life is to glorify God and reach others with the Gospel. When God supplies more than we need, we should help those who still have needs, and help those who are themselves seeking to reach more people with Jesus Christ. We as Christians have grown way too used to living like the world and building up treasure that we don’t need and don’t even use.
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.'” We could do SO MUCH MORE for the work of Christ, if we weren’t so caught up in this world!