And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Luke 12:13-15

Throughout Jesus ministry, he taught us over and over again to beware of the love of money and to be generous. Someone from the crowd asked Jesus to make his brother split an inheritance with him. Jesus has a brilliant response “Who made me judge over you”? In other words , are you saying that I’m the Messiah, since you’re making me the judge of Israel? If you reject Jesus as the Messiah, then why even involve Jesus? 

Secondly Jesus gave a stern warning “Beware of greed, because life is not about possessions”! In a day and age when most peoples’ hobby is ordering things on Amazon or going “Black Friday” shopping, I think we need to hear this message again by Christ!

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Luke 12:16-19

Jesus teaches a parable that most of us would call “The American Dream” A rich man had an abundance of crops, so much he didn’t know what to do with, so he stored them away so he can “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry” This is what most Americans or even “Christians” envision for their lives. Make a bunch of money so they can stash it away and hopefully one day take it easy. 

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:20-21

Jesus said “On the day of Judgement, your possessions will not save you” Of course I’m paraphrasing here, but that’s the message. Most people spend their lives working towards retirement, but there is a different “retirement” we should be working towards and that’s the eternal Kingdom of God

Having a big 401k won’t save your soul from Hell, only Jesus Christ will. Make sure your focusing on Christ and living as his disciple. Sure we all need to make money and support our families, but this should not be our main focus in life. Our main focus should always be Christ, so beware of greed and live for Jesus Amen!