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:
- The challenge of this story of the rich farmer is this: Why pile up wealth here on earth? Why work to gather more than you will ever need? 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?”
- We all make value decisions that shape our lives. Jesus asks us to remember that those decisions shape our life here and in eternity.
- What decisions are you facing? What value do you base your decisions on? Will Jesus call you a fool? Or a good and faithful servant? How is God calling you to treat your money and possessions differently?
Suggestion for Family Devotional Time: Prepare a prayer list by asking each one 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. You can also ask different persons to pray for specific requests.
Prayer & Journaling: On your prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.
Proverbs for Today 7:24-27
24 And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. 25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, 26 for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. 27 Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.