~ How To Become Rich

Sept 9,2009
Wednesday

READ:
Luke 12:13-21

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Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of things he posesses.
-Luke 12:15

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I find it interesting that Jesus taught more about money than anything else. And He wasn't trying to ratchet up the the treasury. As far as we know, He never even asked for an offering. The reson He taught extensively on the subject is that nothing clogs our spiritual arteries more quickly than money - either working to have a lot of it or wishing that we had.

Think of the man who brazenly asked Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me" (Luke 12:13). Amazing! He had an opportunity to "go deep" with Jesus, but instead he wanted deep pockets.

Jesus responded with a stunning, counterintuitive statement: " Beware of covertousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses" (v.15). He then went on to tell the parable of a rich man who was wildly successful from a worldly stanpoint - having so many crops that had to keep building bigger barns - but who, in God's eyes, was actually a "fool." Not because he was rich, but because he was not rich toward God.

You'll hear a lot of advice about how to become rich. But only Jesus tells it to us straight. It's not about the money. It's of turning our greed into generosity. -Joe Stowell

The riches of this world are vain,
They vanish in a day,
But sweet the treasures of God's love -
They never pass away. - Bosch

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Learning to be rich toward God yields eternal dividends.