On the drive home the other day this verse was going through my mind, ‘Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that”’ (James 4:13-15). I remain convinced that when a passage from the Bible gets stuck in my head, a good thing, that there must be a reason for it. That particular section always takes me back to the Parable of the Rich Man (below).
In summary this guy asks Jesus to make his brother divide the family estate. Jesus warns about greed and tells the story of a man who had apparently done well for himself. Important points?
- He was wealthy and owned productive land,
- He was planning to expand (tear down current barns and build bigger ones),
- Take it easy after that, and
- he died.
14 “Friend,” He said to him, “who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”
16 Then He told them a parable: “A rich man’s land was very productive. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? 18 I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. 19 Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’
21 “That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Jesus points out the futility of focusing our drives and motivation on things when the rich man is asked “All the things you prepared — whose will they be?”
I take three lessons from this story.
First, don’t chase after wealth and possessions. We never know when our time is up. Whether through accidents, illness, or one of the awful things humans sometimes do to one another, we can never be certain of another day. It’s so easy to spend our lives chasing regret. How sad it would be to get to the end of our lives and find we’ll only be missed by our possessions.
Second, don’t wait too long to enjoy life. This rich man said that “then” he’d relax and enjoy himself. We, which includes me, all too often find ourselves thinking along the lines of, “If I can just get that new ____” or “All I need is one more _____ and then I’ll be happy.” The problem is our natures are never satisfied when we seek happiness that way. We spend all our time seeking that one more thing, and then our time is up. Enjoy a sunrise or sunset. Sit quietly with your spouse or hold their hand. Laugh with your children.
Third, don’t procrastinate. If you have something truly worthwhile, then don’t put it off. Take care of it now. Start a healthy lifestyle now. If you’ve been sedentary for too long, don’t say you’ll start tomorrow, go for a walk today.
In short, invest your energy now in those things that matter while enjoying life. Live it to its fullest!
cura ut valeas
This article was first published on August 5, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
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