第十二章

13 眾人中有一個人對耶穌說：夫子！請你吩咐我的兄長和我分開家業。 14 耶穌說：你這個人！誰立我作你們斷事的官，給你們分家業呢？ 15 於是對眾人說：你們要謹慎自守，免去一切的貪心，因為人的生命不在乎家道豐富。 16 就用比喻對他們說：有一個財主田產豐盛； 17 自己心裡思想說：我的出產沒有地方收藏，怎麼辦呢？ 18 又說：我要這麼辦：要把我的倉房拆了，另蓋更大的，在那裡好收藏我一切的糧食和財物， 19 然後要對我的靈魂說：靈魂哪，你有許多財物積存，可作多年的費用，只管安安逸逸吃喝快樂吧！ 20 　神卻對他說：無知的人哪，今夜必要你的靈魂；你所預備的要歸誰呢？ 21 凡為自己積財，在神面前卻不富足的，也是這樣。

默想：

1. 這個財主的故事，對我們是個挑戰；為什麼積攢財寶在地上？為什麼聚斂遠超過我們所需要的財富？耶穌說“無知的人哪，……你所預備的要歸誰呢？”
2. 我們生活中經常所作的選擇決定，都一定受到我們本身價值的影響；耶穌要我們記得，我們所做的決定不單影響今世的生活，還會有永恆的影響。
3. 目前我正面對的是什麼抉擇？我是基於什麼價值觀來作這個決定？耶穌會稱我是個“無知的人”？或是“忠心良善的僕人”？神要我如何以不同的態度，來看待我的錢財與所擁有的東西?

 

 

 

Luke 12

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  ¹⁴Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’  ¹⁸“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘  ²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’  ²¹“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Meditation:

1. The story of the rich farmer remains a pointed challenge to us.  Why pile up wealth here on earth?  Why work to gather more than you will ever need?  However, this rich farmer rejected the word of God and based his life on the pursuit of earthly treasure.  Christ said, “You fool! ……Who will get what you have prepared?”
2. We all make value decisions that shape our lives.  Jesus asks us to remember that those decisions shape our life here and in eternity.
3. What decisions am I facing?  What value do I base my decisions on?  Will Jesus call me a fool?  Or a good and faithful servant?   How is God calling me to treat my money and possessions differently?

 

Family Time

Prepare a prayer list by asking each family member if there is any request or any person for whom they want to pray.  Ask someone to lead the prayer.  Be sure that all of the requests are covered.  Another way to do it would be to ask different persons to pray for specific requests.