"Whose Will They Be?"

[September 30, 2010]   --"Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull 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, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God." -Luke 12: 16-21

This passage always worries me. The reason it worries me is because the man in the passage did what all of us think we should be doing. He saved his money. He was not wasteful, not wanton, not frivolous. He was frugal. He outproduced his needs, so he built bigger barns to store all his stuff. He had to be thinking, "yep, I've done it. I've taken care of my family and myself." Then he dies. And what does God say to him? God calls him a fool. Uh oh. So what is the trouble here? Is the trouble in saving money? I don't think so.

The trouble here is not in saving money. That, in itself, is not bad. The trouble is how the man viewed his money. He believed his money actually secured something of value. He believed his money secured his future. Then, as it turned out, it secured nothing. God makes the point, "and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" This is a biting rhetorical question. All this stuff that was supposed to take care of him and his needs would now belong to someone else. It would do the man no good. Jesus is very clear about the savings account we should all be relying upon. That is the one in God's vault. The best place to invest all our time, talents and treasure is not merely in an IRA or savings account, but in the work of Jesus Christ in this world. That is treasure that will last forever.

Prayer: Holy God, help me to invest myself in you. I want to serve you and to know you better, but sometimes I do not know how. On this day, please give me the wisdom to see you in my life, and to hear your call. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

[text from file received from Phil Blackburn, First Presbyterian Church]