Covetous? Or rich toward God!

About a week ago we had an appointment with our lawyer to update our wills. In order to help us with the process, he was obligated to present us with all the ‘worst case scenarios’ that he could think of. By the time he was finished with all the ‘what-ifs’ I was becoming impatient. Most of what he said sounded as if they came from the script of a terrible soap opera. However, he assured us that things like this happen, that families do fight over wills and inheritances, even though I tried to convince him that our family does not.

Today’s reading takes me to Luke 12. Jesus is talking to a large gathering when someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Our lawyer might mutter, “See, they fight and even ask God to pick sides,” but Jesus would not do it. He replied, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” Then, so all the crowd could hear, He said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

This is so true. It even seems appropriate at Christmas to be reminded that our lives are not about stuff, not how much stuff we have, nor about how much stuff is placed under the Christmas tree. While most would nod in agreement, the truth comes out when a sibling tries to take that special item that “mom said I could have.”

In thinking about that, another truism comes to mind from the same passage in Luke. It gave me the second part of one of those ‘one-two punches’ that God often delivers . . .

The first came while we were at the Christmas Eve service in our church, singing and celebrating that God clothed Himself in human flesh and lived among us. I had struggled all day with something, one of those ‘I wants’ that I knew would never be under the Christmas tree, but the Lord used this special evening to speak to me. I was still thinking about it when He clearly said, “Your life is not about you.”

With that fresh in my mind, He took me today to the second part of Luke 12 where Jesus shared a parable with the crowd. He said, “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.”

All that day I’d been wanting to lay up treasure for myself. It wasn’t more ‘stuff’ but it was something I thought would enrich my life. But God spoke two times stressing that my life is not about me, and if I try to make it about me, I will always feel impoverished. It is only when I’m fully consecrated to Him that I will feel rich and actually be rich.

“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:38–39)

Merry Christmas

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)

One way to store up treasure

Last night we talked with our granddaughter about situations where someone needs medical attention and bystanders often freeze up or back away. I recalled a situation where our son encountered someone having a seizure. After he helped the person, he told us he was amazed because, “I just knew what to do.”

At that, our granddaughter said the same thing. She told of taking first aid courses for her job and thinking she’d forgotten everything, but when the need came up, “I just knew what to do.”

Today’s devotional is about forming good habits, storing good things in my mind so that when issues come up, or temptations, or others are in trouble, that good treasure put in is available and I will “know just what to do.”

Essentially, this is what Jesus said to the Pharisees who were trying to accuse Him of working for the devil when He cast demons out of people. They were so jealous of His power that they were not thinking straight.

Jesus responded, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:33–37)

If I take this to heart and put in good treasure, then the next time someone is sick, or tells me of a tragedy in their lives, or brings bad news, or is in some kind of trouble, then I will know what to do and what to say.

This means putting good things in my heart and mind so when needed, they will come out. The good things are the truths of God and the attitudes of Jesus Christ. By reading His Word and paying attention to how He treated people, I am storing up treasure. If I learn His ways of comforting others, or how to speak when someone is hurting, or where to direct them when they are in trouble, then if a day comes when that is needed, I will know what to say and what to do.

However, if I don’t store up good treasure, then when difficult situations come up, I might panic and run, or  nervously laugh and back off, or throw my hands in the air and look for someone else who knows just what to do, winding up being useless because I didn’t bother to fill my mind with good treasure.  

Faith and 3-D printers

Have you heard about 3-D printers? They are capable of creating many things from plastic objects to human ears. But tell someone who had never seen or heard of even a regular printer. Would they believe it? Without seeing it work, do I believe it? 

Does the average person believe in immortality? Or do most limit themselves to this tiny blip of time on the scale of history? Are eighty plus or minus years all there is? If so, then “eat, drink, for tomorrow we die” makes sense. Get the best out of it, or take a more a noble aim, give the best you have. In either case, there is no need for Jesus Christ or a changed heart for when you die, you die.

I read part of a theological paper yesterday and underlined many statements. One of them is that people don’t know God and don’t know that they don’t know. How can that be? Romans 1 says that what can be known about God is plain because God has revealed it. But then it goes on to say that what was known about Him was not honored. Instead of acknowledging God and being thankful, people deny Him and prefer lesser gods. In doing that, their “hearts are darkened” and they become fools. 

That paper is about the need of our hearts for God to reveal Himself to us. We have dark hearts. Sin blinds us to reality. Even as a Christian, I can sin and be oblivious to what I am doing. My understanding of God depends totally on God’s revelation of Himself. Unless He sheds light into my darkness, I cannot see and will live as my own blindness dictates.

None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8)

Most people today do not give a thought to immortality. All passion and enthusiasm goes into temporary and material things with a measure of certainty that this is all there is and they are doing quite fine without God. Given normal opportunities, they will manage. This talk of sin and a changed heart is a waste of time, even a grand and yet foolish daydream. 

I sometimes feel like that. I know Christ, but also know how my heart is prone to wander from Him. I know I cannot take care of myself. That darkness swirls around me and I find myself in a continual battle. My soul has an enemy that wants to pull me from trusting Jesus and throw me into the same darkness that engulfs the world in sin and godlessness. This enemy dangles before me the same delights that keep others from God. Thankfully, God also holds before me truth that even my frail logic cannot deny.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other . . . . (Matthew 6:19–24)

This passage goes on to talk about money, but that is not the only treasure that this life offers. If I wanted to live for today and not for eternity, I could spend my time and energies in many ways, which in the long run have no significance except to have kept me from eternal pursuits. 

What really matters in this life? The writer of Ecclesiastes went through every possibility and came to this conclusion . . .  

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14)

This means that all the stuff that I do will be evaluated, including those things done in dark ignorance that I did not even realize I was doing or see how it was wrong. The secret things will be exposed, both good and evil. It makes sense to me to let God expose them now so that I might be a blessing to others with the good, and that I might confess and forsake the evil. God says that if I do that, He will forgive and cleanse me (1 John 1:9).

In my sense of being needy, of being spiritual helpless without God, I have a hard time understanding that others cannot see that about their own lives. But blindness hits us all, and I must remember about those 3-D printers. Most people in the world do not know they exist, and if they did hear of them, they would not believe it. Even if they could see one working, they would not commit themselves to relying on such a machine. 

Because of 3-D printers, I can get a handle on unbelief. Because of the sin in my own life, I can grasp the idea that no one can save their own self. We all fall short. Our only hope is in God who reveals truth and God who sent a Savior. Most of us don’t need a 3-D printer, but we all need Jesus. 

Eternal Treasures

My sister’s home was flooded in June, along with thousands of others in the town where she lives. This week we put what remains of her small business back in her basement. We talked about the things we treasure and how easy it is to become caught up with ‘treasure’ that cannot last.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19–21)

Most of us don’t realize what we treasure or how much we value it until moth or rust or thieves or a swollen river comes and grabs it from us. This is definitely a test of the heart. When evacuation became a must in High River, some people lost everything they had except the clothes they were wearing. My sister is doing well, yet I suspect the grief hasn’t even started for many folks in her city.

Today’s devotional bids me to look forward at the treasures of eternity. The greatest will be the Person of Jesus Christ, and I am sure that wherever He is, I would be immensely joyful. However, another treasure is the place He is preparing for me. He calls it His Father’s house, a Greek term meaning God’s eternal dwelling place…

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2)

Some consider it a great honor to be invited to a great home such as the White House to dine with heads of state, or the mansion of a famous entertainer or sports star. I can imagine those, but to walk into the dwelling place of God surpasses my imagination.

The invitation is simple: “Whosoever will may come.” God has no list of elite or influential people and invites everyone. In fact, those who hear and respond are at the other end of the social spectrum…

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26–29)

Jesus often displayed a special concern for the broken and down-trodden, perhaps to emphasize that those who would dwell with Him forever didn’t need any special qualifications, only that they RSVP with a “Yes” and mean it, following Him with all their heart.

When all who respond arrive at His door, they will find a banquet prepared for them (I can imagine that). As we enter our eternal dwelling place, we will not look back. No matter how good life might be here, all of it will be shabby in comparison.

My sister says that no matter how her town is rebuilt, it will never be the same. Memories and vast changes will put an ache in the heart for a long time. Maybe that is a bit opposite to the change that will happen when my life here is over and I enter God’s eternal home. Instead of lamenting over what I have lost, all sorrow and any tears will be swallowed up by the wonder of seeing Jesus Christ face to face and receiving His heavenly treasures.