Luke 12:13-21
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 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; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.17 He 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 my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain 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 whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Luke 21:1-4
The Widow's Mite
1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Matthew 19:23-24
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
John 10:10 (KJV)
Jesus Gives Us an Abundant Life
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
These teachings tells us a lot about how Jesus sees wealth...The Parable of the Rich Fool is an interesting teaching on wealth...Jesus says that our life does not consist of an abundance of possessions...We must watch out and be on guard for all the different kinds of greed...This teaching is certainly a statement about wealth and how different people handle wealth in their lives...How do each of us view life and wealth, seems to be the statement that Jesus is making here in His parable and these other teachings...
Jesus teaches often about the abundance of material things and an abundance of wealth and also about an abundant life...He does not give us a lot of good feelings toward those who accumulate wealth...Material things does not make one's life...This is not what life is about...God gives us our material things and our wealth...And Jesus teaches about an abundant life...Jesus came to earth so that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly...Since God is our Creator and we do not know if this very night our life maybe demanded from us, we must be prepared and on watch and on guard...He wants us to really think about God and life and wealth...Jesus asks what good are one's possessions that are stored up, when we die...But are we prepared for God?...Do many possessions make us prepared for God?...Do possessions help our faith?...