How To Be Rich DevotionalSýnishorn

The Consumption Assumption

Jesus taught his followers a rather interesting definition of greed. He said that greed is the assumption that everything placed in our hands is for our consumption.

The scene where Jesus taught this concept is recorded in the gospel of Luke. One day when Jesus was preaching to his followers, an argument broke out in the crowd. It was an argument about greed. One person accused the other of greed and vice versa. In response, Jesus began to tell a story:

"The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest ..." (Luke 12:16)

Here's a rich guy who finds himself with more than he needs. He had a good year. So what will he do with the extra?

Remember, Jesus is making up the story. Jesus wanted to get us thinking about the different things we could do when we find ourselves in that situation. He wanted to teach us the right and wrong ways to respond if we ever find ourselves with more than we need. He showed us how to be good at being rich. And interestingly enough, the rich guy in Jesus' story did what a lot of us do when we have good years. Jesus continued:

"He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 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.' And I'll say to myself, 'You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'" (Luke 12:17-19)

So the rich man in the story tore down his old barns and built new ones. At first glance, that seems pretty reasonable. In fact, it's industrious.

So far, it's just a good story. We like the premise and we like the main character. We're living vicariously through his season of good fortune. We're just waiting for Jesus to say, "And he lived happily ever after." But then things took a morbid turn:

"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?' This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:20-21)

Like most things Jesus had to say, this parable represented a monumental shift from conventional thinking. He was announcing a new paradigm for those times when we find ourselves with extra.

Whenever we have more than we need, our natural assumption will be that it's for our own consumption. But that's the wrong mindset. Jesus was exposing the flaw in that way of thinking. If we simply store up for ourselves and are not rich toward God, then everything we possess will be a total loss. At some point, everybody leaves it all behind. But if we will take advantage of the times when we have more than we need, and do more than simply save it for ourselves - then we can become rich toward God. And the implication is that it won't be a loss anymore.