Thoughts for the Day

Then Jesus 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.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard version)

Thoughts

On one level the Parable of the Rich Man is quite obvious, but it's worth looking at it again. The rich man obviously had much land and this particular year his crops did amazingly well. He immediately went into anxiety mode: "What shall I do?" We can almost see his panic. "If the crops are not going to be ruined then where can I store them?" He does not rejoice and thank God for his huge crop, nor does he think about how he can help others from his plenty.

In Matthew's Gospel Jesus says we are not to "store up treasures on earth". We are to store up "treasure in heaven", because where our treasure is, that is where our heart will be. (Matthew 6.10-21). Jesus is not saying we shouldn't make more money, but he is saying that it will consume our thoughts and plans, and may well stop us storing up treasure in heaven.

So what is this treasure in heaven? Simply put, it is seeking God and His spiritual Kingdom; it is having a heart for the things that are important to Him - a care for the poor, the weak, and the marginalised; it is sitting loose to material things; and it is growing closer to God each day so that we begin to see the world and its needs through His eyes and not our own materialistic ones.

Lord Jesus Christ,
You taught your disciples
to store up treasure in Heaven:
Help us to learn more about this Kingdom;
to grow closer to You in worship;
to begin to look at our world in the way You do;
and to use our resources wisely
for the sake of others and ourselves.
Amen.