Planning for the future

Luke 12:13-21

          Ordinarily when I read a passage from scripture you know I am all about context, translation and I rail against taking a line and using it for your own purposes as so many preachers do. I'm not sure God appreciates that too much. In fact I'd like to hear what he thinks about it because translations aside, Jesus seems to have have been really quite pointed in his response here. "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" Don't you love it. This greedy guy comes to Jesus expecting justification  for his own petty problem and Jesus sees through it and gives him (and all the rest of us ) the zinger.

          One of the big questions in life as you get older like myself is planning for the future. You have to strike a balance between two poles. One is to save, save, save so you can live comfortably when you retire. The other pole is to spend now, live it up, we deserve it! Tomorrow is not guaranteed. That last part is where the old age comes into play. I see so many cases of people dying of cancer, people dying suddenly. People dying in freakish accidents and it is all very sad. It makes you wonder about planning for your own life. It is a tough balancing act. I am not planning on God answering my prayers by having me win the lottery so I do save as much as I can.  I also try to cherish the life I have been truly graced with, appreciating every moment, every sunset, every smile, every person I meet.

            This idea of appreciting life is the whole point of our existence really. It's why I think Jesus shot back at the heckler. "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" The really funny thing to me is that the more we love, the more we appreciate what we have been entrusted with, the more we do not take for granted, the more we are given in the way of joy, love and yes, sometimes even physical wealth. The reason is absolutely Biblical. To those that have, more will be given. The more you love, the more love you will receive. The more you realize money is really NOT that important for you to have a happy life, the more money you seem to be graced with. The happier you are. It's a 'viscious cycle' of the best kind.

                An appreciateive heart and mind are truly the best gifts you can be graced with. Once you see that every single thing that you have is a grace from God, the lights will go off and you will be the happiest person alive. That joy will feed on itself and is very contagious. 

Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."

But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?"

And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

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 toward God."