Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

Luke 12:8-34 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; ⁹ but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. ¹⁰ And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹ When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ ²¹ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

²² And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? ²⁶ If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. ³⁰ For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. ³² Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

³³ “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Perhaps the greatest challenge for a believer is to find the way to balance living in the natural physical world, while also abiding and dwelling in the kingdom of God and heaven. The truths and the realities of the two are in many ways at odds, seemingly opposed to each other. The natural realm is finite. Time and space are limited. The kingdom of heaven, like God Himself is infinite, never ending and eternal. Our finite minds cause us to view most things through the limitations of being either one way or the other. God is all in all. When it comes to physical things, we tend to limit our thinking to what we see and know, to what we can perceive with our senses. When it comes to ideas and principles, the things that are limited, or absolute with God, we tend to see these as relative or subjective. For instance, 1 John 1:5 says:  God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.     This of course is not referring to physical light and darkness, but rather spiritual light and darkness. The reality though is that even with physical darkness, it is really the absence of light. In that way the spiritual application is the same, where there is light there can be no darkness. The same absolutes are true with God and His kingdom regarding truth, regarding good and evil. The things that God sees as absolute, the world makes relative. We try to make God’s kingdom conform to and align with the way things are on earth, rather than aligning our ways to His ways. God says:  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)   He also says:  “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)   We need to change the way we think. We need to believe beyond what we see and know in the physical realm, trusting God. With Him nothing is impossible. In spiritual things on the other hand, we need to limit our thinking to what God says. We need to align ourselves with His reality, not try to make Him conform to ours.

Today’s text deals with one of these areas where we need to balance the kingdom of heaven with the realities of living in this world. It deals with how we prioritize our finances and our preparation for the future. It says:  “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear 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 many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”    We need to see and understand something very important about this. Jesus says:  “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”  It is not having the abundance though that is the problem. The land was productive. God supplied the abundance. It is not being greedy to have abundance. In John 10:10, Jesus says: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  The problem is not what we have. It is in our desire to hold onto what we have. The judgment against the rich man was not that he had an abundance, but that he stored up treasure for himself, and was not rich toward God. We may not build extra buildings to store our material wealth, although as you drive through most communities you will see storage facilities filled with the excess of people’s lives, with the things they cannot use yet hold onto. Many barns are no longer places that house livestock our machinery to plant and harvest, but rather are places where unused things are stored. If we were truly rich toward God, these buildings could be shelters for people and their contents could provide for their needs. In Matthew 6:19-20 Jesus says:  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”   For many of us, we may not have excess material things stored in barns or buildings, but what of our financial wealth and holdings? How many people have hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars stored in places that offer no protection? How much of the wealth and savings for the future of many people could be gone in an instant? It may not be subject to moths or rust, to flood or fire, but instead could be erased in a day at the turn of the market based on the actions of greedy people. Jesus says:  “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”     I am not suggesting that we really should sell all of our possessions. I am not suggesting that we should empty our 401K and give all that we have to charity. I am though suggesting that we should begin by being rich toward God. His provision for us is without limit. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.   His kingdom is more than enough. It is more than we can imagine.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit I repent of my way of thinking. I want to see and know things as You see and know them. I want to see and know from the perspective of heaven, not of earth. I want to know and walk in Your abundance. I want to have all that You have given me, but I want to hold nothing for myself. Help me to be rich toward You. Help me to walk in the love and charity of Your kingdom. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.