The Way to Wealth

Jesus told a parable about a man who had great wealth. He was proud of all his possessions. The man had an abundance that far exceeded his current storage space. He thought to himself, "I will tear down these inadequate buildings, and I will build new ones large enough to accommodate all that I have accumulated for myself. Then I will lay around and take it easy. I will do what I want to do, go where I want to go. I will have it made in the shade."

That is not exactly how Jesus voiced the state of his main character, but  I believe my version expresses the idea he was trying to convey to his audience. In other words this greedy man's wealth had been gained for himself alone. He didn't consider others, and he didn't consider God. He had no intention of using what God had given him for anyone else.

Notice how Jesus' parable progresses. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" Luke 12:20   God called the man a fool. "Tonight you are going to die and all of your money and possessions will be left for others." The idiom, "A fool and his money are soon parted" is an alarming theme in this parable. Jesus said, “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:21

 In the parable we see a wealthy man who died, losing everything, even his soul because he was not rich toward God.  It is interesting that Jesus was talking to a multitude of people who were mostly very poor. They were not rich by any sense of the word. Why do you suppose Jesus was telling them a story about a wealthy man's failure to give of his abundance to God? The point Jesus was making was that the amount of money or possessions you have has nothing to do with your ability to be rich toward God. It doesn't matter if we have ten dollars or a million dollars in the bank we are expected to be willing to offer every bit of it to God. Remember the little lady who only dropped a penny in the offering box. Jesus said she gave more than anyone because she had given all she had. She was definitely rich toward God. Being rich toward God is an attitude of the heart.

The rich man may say, "I am wealthy. I don't need for anything or anyone." The poor man may lament, "I have nothing. I am destined to live a hopeless, dreadful life." Neither of these individuals are depending on God's grace. When our emphasis is on what we have or don't have we will not manifest a richness toward God. There is something very pleasant about being able to say, "I am rich toward God!" Those who are rich toward God are the wealthiest people ever!