February 2, 2009 Luke 12:13-21

Jesus Warns Against Selfishness
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide with me the property our father left us." But Jesus said to him, "Who said I should judge or decide between you?" Then Jesus said to them, "Be careful and guard against all kinds of greed. Life is not measured by how much one owns." Then Jesus told this story: "There was a rich man who had some land, which grew good crop. He thought to himself, 'What will I do? I have no place to keep all my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and other goods. Then I can say to myself, "I have neough good things stored to last for many years. Rest, eat, drink, and enjoy life!"' "But God said to him, 'Foolish man! Tonight your life will be taken from you. So who will get those things you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be for those who store up things for themselves and are not rich toward God." ~Luke 12:13-21~

This is another passage about wealth/treasures/possessions. Jesus talks about a man rich in crops, but for the love of them and himself, he is too greedy and selfish to share with anybody, even if he has such an abundance. Unfortunately, all those riches go to waste because his life is taken that night. The last verse says, "This is how it will be for those who store up things for themselves and are not rich toward God." If only the man thought of tithing, or sharing with the less privileged...

Lots of times, we are just like the foolish, selfish man. Although we are not filthy rich, even the littlest things we receive, we are so caught up within ourselves that we forget to share. This doesn't have to do with just money...for example: we receive so much love from family, friends, God, and etc. but some people are less fortunate...kids get thrown away by parents, left behind, in sorrow. Another example is food: we have an abundance of food no matter how much we feel like we don't have anything to eat. There are so many others in this world who don't even get to eat one meal a day, while we eat three or more per day.

Sharing is caring...that's what we learn in like kindergarten! Being selfish doesn't bring anything good. You can be selfish about the things you have, but that'll make friends go away, family go away...sooner or later you will have nobody to share those things with, to make memories...you'll be a loner. You never know when you will die or when Jesus Christ will come back...in order to prepare for that, we need to share...not only wealth/possessions, but also the gospel! All those things aren't ours in the first place, so it won't hurt to share...by doing so, we will be building up treasures in the Kingdom and we will receive multiples!