Greed for God!

To wrap up our look at greed after a short break yesterday let's look where our greed needs to be!



Luke 12:13-21



13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”



This is such a good picture that God has given us here in these verses. First, brothers are having a problem over an inheritance. Greed has split so many families over the years. This is a sad thing and no doubt it saddens God. Jesus warns the one brother to be very careful for covetousness can cause major problems. Then Jesus tells us a parable about a rich man who is basically preparing for retirement. So he can sit back and take it easy. Look very closely at this. First we never know when life will end, all our hard work to accumulate things goes to someone else when we die. They do us no good! Second, retirement from work for money is not a bad thing in itself but there is no retirement plan i serving the Lord...NONE! Third, The key to defeating greed is being greedy in serving God! Be greedy in your time, money and service TO GOD! Be rich toward God and you ca not go wrong for one can not out give God!



So this morning are you greedy for God or greedy for self?



Tom