Life is not how much you have, but who you love
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.”
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.”
This was the Gospel for today and it sure makes sense in my life and I think it will make sense for many others. I really like the line “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” We (including I) often get too caught up in competing with the "Joneses". We all feel the need for the fancy car, nice home, expensive clothes and so on. Most of the things we own do not fulfill us so we have the need to keep buying and buying in hopes of filling that void. In the end, the only thing we will have filled will be a house (not a home) with mindless clutter, out of date clothes and more knick-knacks than a person should ever have to dust.
By inviting God into our house, we change our house from a clutter filled house into a love filled home. I have realized the only thing I need in my life is my family and God, everything else can be replaced. In fact, money in my opinion brings on more worries, the more you have, the more you spend, the more you need to make. It's a vicious cycle.
I want to teach my children to enjoy the simple things in life, that more is not always better. My son has often said that he wants a house with stairs because one of his friends has one with stairs, or he wants the latest toy because his friends have the latest toy. This is when I ask him to look around and see all that he has and to be thankful for it, my son has so many things that I'm sure other children would love to have. Same goes for while I may really want a car like my neighbors, my neighbor may want a car like mine. My point is to be thankful for what you have, cherish your families and to put your family and God before all of your possessions. With those items in your possession, you are the wealthiest man alive.
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