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.'

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Are you someone that lives each day by examining your past - how well did something go, when did you last do something, or what did someone say to you months ago? Or do you live in the future - making plans for what you will do next year, deciding where you would like to live, or what holiday you would like to go on? Well, I guess some of us do both. Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool to remind us not to get too caught up in planning for the future, for we do not know what our future will be.

These last sixteen months have taught us all that the future is not secure. Thousands of people who thought they had planned out their life have sadly been mistaken, for Covid-19 dictated otherwise. While others who expected to have operations have had their lives totally disrupted as they wait for an operation, while their pain increases. None of us expected this to happen!

The message of Jesus is stark. We need to store up treasure in heaven! How do we do this? Well perhaps we've all made a start - me in writing these Thoughts, and you in reading them. However, it's only a start. We all need to get back to our churches and our worship (online if necessary), and we need to put our faith into action.

Father God,
teach us how to store up treasure in heaven,
to work for eternal things,
and not the day-to-day trivia
that can clutter our lives.
Give us the courage to make
changes to our lives,
and seek You above all things.
Amen.