Monday January 1
Read Luke 12:15-21. What’s the message to us here? How might the principle here apply even to someone who is not necessarily rich?
Whether we are rich or poor, our desire to own things can take our mind off what really matters and focus it, instead, on what’s only temporal and fleeting and certainly not worth the loss of eternal life.
We would probably never bow down to a literal statue of gold or silver and worship it today. Nevertheless, we can still be in danger of worshiping gold and silver, just in another form.
This parable is so applicable in many parts of the world, where life is dedicated almost exclusively to acquiring possessions. Retailers have turned the hawking of their products into an art form on a global scale. Their whole marketing strategy is built on making us think that we can’t be happy or satisfied until we own what they are selling. One very successful company created a product, made us think we needed it, and then sold it to us. And the truth is: it worked! Even Christians, whose hope is not of this world, are not safe from this deception.
Read Deuteronomy 8:10-14. In what ways can any church member be in danger from the threat warned about here?
What examples can you find, either in the Bible or our world today, in which the accumulation of wealth and material possessions increased a person’s spirituality, love of God, and desire for heavenly and spiritual things? Please share your answer with the class.
