What are Your priorities?
This Teaching is Part 4 of our Podcast Episode 8. To watch as a short video, click the player above. To watch the full teaching of Episode 8, Click HERE.
Luke 12:13-21 NIV Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” [14] Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” [15] Then 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.” [16] And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. [17] He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 8] “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. [19] And 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.”
Now, many people in our churches today are rich toward God. But quite frankly, America is in a lot of trouble today because many bought things that they could not pay for. Remember the houses that many of us grew up in? You can see scores of them in the older neighborhoods in America. They are much more modest than today’s “Big Box” houses, with maybe two or three bedrooms and a nice tree out back. Countless families were raised here, happy and content. But in today’s world, home buyers go straight to a “Big Box” builder looking for a 3000 sq. ft. mansion that costs an arm and a leg to buy, to heat and cool, and to pay the tax bill! A generation ago, a family did not have 5 cars and a 400 square foot house unless you were just filthy rich! But now we have a mentality that everyone should start out this way. Our kids come straight out of high school or college and go straight for the Big house and the fancy cars. We get deep in debt with big mortgages and lots of credit cards. But then something goes wrong. Today’s economic crisis started with people buying things they just could not afford. Sure, some shady bankers had a lot to do with it. But let’s face it, it was people not being able to make their payments that started all of this off. The housing problems spread to the auto industry. Even retail sales are in trouble, as our retailers depend on massive spending at Christmas time, often paid for with credit cards.
Many in America have their eyes on wealth, while their families and their spiritual condition are in shambles. We crave a bigger house or a fancy new car, even if we have to work two jobs to support it. Virtually all of the economic problems we have in America today are caused by people putting too much emphasis on material things, trying to buy things they
can’t pay for. One of the places where America most often commits Idolatry is when we worship the Idol of material possessions.
If you are one of those people who is financially blessed, fantastic. I hope you remember to give to the poor and sow into God’s kingdom. I have been both rich and poor, and am somewhere in between now. But if you are one of those families that has gotten themselves upside down by putting their emphasis on the wrong things, perhaps you need to adjust your priorities. Whether we are poor or well-off, we must not let material possessions become an Idol and a snare to us.
So I prose to you another goal for the new year: Spend less of your life, your time, your thoughts and your energy, going after material things. Resolve to spend more time going after the things of God. Think also about other people. The bits of your life that you invest in God and other people last forever. Read in Mathew 25. God considers the things that you do for the needy as an act of worship.
Instead of being focused on the things of this world, ask yourself “How much of my life goes toward the Eternal things, doing things with God, for God, or for others? Could you spend more time with your family? Your job is important, and as a Christian you should do a good job. But are you sacrificing your family chasing one more promotion?
Friends, from our biblical heritage it is right and proper for us to begin the new year with some sober self- assessment and goals to improve. My first resolution is this: I resolve not to be insane this year! I will not do the same old things and expect different results.
I for one choose to try to listen more to the Spirit this year, and “knock that devil off my shoulder” when my flesh is speaking to me. And finally, I choose to assess my goals and motivations in the light of eternity, and make a few adjustments as necessary.
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