Previous Reflections
REFLECTIONS
August 9th, 2020"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
Luke 12:18-19An Idol God
Today we may have counted the number of cars in his garage, the size of the planes he owned, or his ranking among the world’s wealthiest people. The rich man in Jesus’ parable measured wealth by barns of grain.
We don’t know his name or much of his background. He may have grown up in wealth or poverty, but his decision tells that wealth measured his success. That he couldn’t give it up signals the influence of an idol god.
Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
(Ecclesiastes 5:10)
We might imagine the rich man once had a dream to feed the world during periods of famine as Joseph did so many years before. Or perhaps grain was a medium of exchange that would fund higher education for deserving students. Maybe its use would advance a new mode of travel or innovations to bring world peace. But it’s also easy to imagine that along the way the rich man lost sight of his dream. It’s easy to see how he might have become so immersed in gaining wealth that he forgot the dream he set out to serve. It happens. But it didn’t happen to J.J.
“I have enough money.” my friend explained. “I have seen people with all they need and when they chase after more, they never seem to stop. So, I want to use what I have to do what I feel called to do.” He may never again increase his riches on earth; but his wealth will never be his idol god.
He serves the Living One.
You are the light of the world,
Richard +
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