The Student’s Desk

How much is too much?

The Student’s Desk fortnightly devotion.

  

Preparation for Prayer

Psalm 37:1-7, 16-17

 

Do not fret because of evil men

or be envious of those who do wrong;

for like the grass they will soon wither,

like green plants they will soon die away.

Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Delight yourself in the Lord

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,

the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when men succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Better the little that the righteous have

than the wealth of many wicked;

for the power of the wicked will be broken,

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

Prayer

Lord, again we thank you that we can gather in your name and meet as your people. As we meet as your people, it is our desire to thank you for all you’ve done for us, to pray to and to learn from you. Lord, we want to confess to you this morning that it’s easy to get swept up in getting more and more stuff. That we see the things that other people have got, and be jealous and want what they’ve got. Help us to see the bigger picture, Lord. Help us to put our trust in you, and seek out your purposes.

In Jesus name we pray.

 

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“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.”‘

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”  

                                                     

When too much is too much!

Who would like more stuff? More music, more clothes, more jewelry, more money? If you could have more of any one thing, what would it be? I certainly would like more stuff, and I’ll put my hand up for more money any day! But is this what we should be on about as Christians?

Now, I want to get one thing right from the outset. There’s nothing wrong with having stuff. There’s nothing wrong with having money and being rich. The Bible says that God can and does bless people with riches. There are plenty of rich people in the Bible. There are also plenty of poor people in the Bible, so God doesn’t bless everyone with riches. But the point is there’s nothing wrong with having stuff. What counts is our attitude to our stuff – whether we’ve got a whole lot or just the shirt on our back.

Jesus tells a story in response to some people squabbling over wealth. The story involves a farmer who’s just had a bumper crop season. He’s got more grain then he knows what to do with! “Praise God!!!” we might say. Not this guy. He sees his bumper crop and thinks “Early retirement! YIPPEE!!!” and starts making measures where he can put his feet up, and party every night.

Again, I want to say there’s nothing wrong with putting money aside for the future. It’s a good idea! But it’s a serious problem when we put our faith, our confidence in the stuff we have and not God. You see, all that stuff is temporary. It’ll all disappear one day. And we certainly can’t take it to heaven! It’s just foolish to think having stuff will solve all our problems, and God just thinks it’s a bad joke.

This is why Jesus says we’re to be rich toward God. We’re to put our faith and confidence in him. When life gets tough, which it will from time to time, we’re to turn to God, and ask him for help. We’re to seek God’s purpose in our lives by serving people and telling them about Jesus, and not our own desires.

What, or who, are you trusting in? Do you trust in your stuff? Are you hoping to get one more thing, and then everything will be ok? I hope not, because all that stuff will disappear and not be of any use to us at all. Or do you trust in God, and in what Jesus has done for you. I hope you trust in God and are seeking out his purposes, because it’s that relationship that will last, and go on forever.

© The Student’s Desk, 2007.

October 19, 2007 Posted by Jason | Devotionals, Parables, Religious | Bible, Christian, Christianity, Devotion, devotional, Theology | 1 Comment