Title: Faith is more precious than wealth
Contents
The text is from Luke 12:16-21.
Everyone wants to be rich. I believe that being rich is success, success, and happiness, so I work hard, work hard, study, research, and invest to make my business successful. However, the rich don't have to be that way. So some misguided people use evil means to get rich, from stealing, robbery, kidnapping, arson, corruption, bribery, drugs, smuggling, human trafficking, and even murder. Even if you have a lot of wealth through such evil deeds, it does not make you rich or happy.
People often say, “Having a lot makes you happy! If not, bad luck!” Even if you think like this, you should not judge a truly rich, happy person by how much or how little they have. 1 Timothy 6:8 “We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it, so that if we have food and clothing, we will be content.” A truly rich and happy person is not in the abundance of material things, but in the thoughts of the heart. A person who lives with less and is satisfied is a happy rich person. A person who has a lot and complains about lack of it and lives in dissatisfaction is a foolish and unfortunate rich man. Today's text deals with a story that is higher than the rich by these worldly standards. To be truly rich, to be a happy rich man, is to become rich toward God. A rich man only for himself, he is not rich, and if he wants to be rich, he must be a foolish rich man.
Today's text begins like this. Verse 16 “There was a rich man…” This rich man was called a ‘foolish man’ (verse 20), but this foolish rich man’s problem is that he is the center (verses 17-19). The idea is wrong. How should a Christian live?
First, we must live centered on God. In my theological ideology, this is God absolutism. God first, God first, and God first are the core of them. God cannot be second in any case. Even if it's just for worship, I don't worship when I have time to do all my chores. Instead, I set aside everything in the world for worship. Even if it’s just a tithe, you spend everything you need, set aside everything and give it if you can afford it, don’t do it, and don’t give it a little bit as a reward. Instead, you give it to God first and live with the rest, saving money, and making plans for your old age. If you spend up to tithing and don't give it to God, you're likely to live with more, but in North Korea, where you don't even pay 1/10, it's worse than we do. If you live centered on God, God will bless you and give you grace.
Also, the rich fool used it only for himself. (The action is wrong.) The text points out his error like this. Verse 19 “We have many goods laid up for many years; let us rest, eat, drink and be merry.” It is foolishness and foolishness to use it only for yourself. We are given by God and must first be used for God's sake. Second, use it for yourself without wasting or extravagance, and thirdly, for your neighbor.
The widow of Sarepta used it for Elijah, the servant of the Lord, and received great blessings. All of us lived through drought and famine for over three years, but we lived with our son without worrying about food. The woman who prepared for the funeral by pouring a bowl of expensive perfume worth 300 denarii on Jesus was praised for saying, “Where the gospel is preached, what this woman has done will also be reported” (Matthew 26:13), and more than 2,000 years have passed. How much joy and glory is it that we still talk about this woman?
The first people who founded America today were the Puritans, who migrated to an unfamiliar continent for religious freedom. Many difficulties, such as dying of disease in a distant foreign land, being attacked by the Indians, laying the grave without knowing that it is a tomb to prevent the Indians from taking the body of the dead, planting corn there, or planting a tree to mark it In the first year of Thanksgiving, they gave thanks to God and built a chapel before their own house. Just as the ancestors of their faith planted the seeds of blessing from God and planted the seeds of vision to make America what it is today, we also plant seeds of blessing and vision on this Thanksgiving for our descendants and plant the seeds of blessing. I hope you can get it. Let's give God the best and best gift of our lifetime!
God is not pleased with a life centered on himself, a life that is lived only for himself. He rejoices in the life he lives for God and for his neighbor. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become saints who value faith more than wealth, the future life than this life, and God more than yourself.