In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus tells the crowd a parable. But he prefaces it with this: "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions."
The parable is about a wealthy man who has so much he decides to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. He says to himself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, by merry!" But God says to him, "You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?" Jesus finishes with this, "Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God."
Is this Jesus' way of saying that we should never eat, drink and be merry? Of course not. There are plenty of occasions where it is very appropriate to eat, drink and be merry. The list is long and beautiful. It is His way of saying that we need to have our priorities in order. It is not inherently bad to have money and possessions, nor to celebrate our blessings. But if we have these things and are not "rich in what matters to God," then it is all for naught. It of course begs the question: what matters to God? It's really not so hard to figure out. Pray, read the Scriptures, learn from Christ. It'll come to you.
Father, may we be rich in what matters to you. Amen.
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