March 23 - Luke 16: Rich Man

Have you noticed that Jesus made a point of specifying if someone in His stories was rich?? He told parables to his disciples and to the Pharisees, a money-obsessed bunch (16:14), and Jesus consistently included that detail. He knew how easy it was (and is) for finances and possessions to become idols, distracting us from God.

The temptation to focus on wealth - both abundance and scarcity - continues to blind people, including believers, to God's truth. There have been plenty of times in my life when I spent money frivolously and irresponsibly and other times when I've worried and obsessed over my real or perceived lack of funds. Neither end of this spectrum is pleasing to God because each extreme is more about me than about Him.

As I read these parables, it's interesting that my knee-jerk reaction is to identify with the poor person, not the rich. I never put myself in that category. But as much as I'd like Jesus' warnings about wealth to be for other people, I know they're intended for me as well. And I know this because, according to Global Rich List, I'm in the top 0.5% richest people in the world! Wow.

While I certainly don't feel rich, the truth of the matter is rather sobering. I AM rich in God's eyes. And according to Scripture, such wealth brings with it significant temptations and responsibilities in my relationship with God:

It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. (12:34)  

Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities! (12:48) 

If you're honest in small things, you'll be honest in big things; if you're a crook in small things, you'll be a crook in big things. (16:10-11) 

Jesus told his disciples, 'Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom?" (Matthew 19:23) 

No worker can serve too bosses: He'll either hate the first and love the second or adore the first and despise the second. You can't serve both God and the Bank. (16:12-13) 

Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage - to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

As I think about these verses, I am free to choose my response. Will I respond like the Pharisees?

When the Pharisees, a money-obsessed bunch, heard him say these things, they rolled their eyes, dismissing him as hopelessly out of touch. (16:14)

I hope not. Instead, I pray that I will take Jesus' words to heart:

I want you to be smart in the same way - but for what is right - using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, as you live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior. (16:9)

Father, I ask you to show me any sin in my heart related to money. Reveal any fear and insecurity that I'm looking to alleviate with finances or possessions, and fill those voids with Yourself. I pray You'll empower me to be a good steward of the resources You've graciously entrusted to me, and to resist the temptation to place my security in anything other than You. Help me to focus only on You and to really live as Your Holy Spirit directs, especially in the area of finances and possessions.