be rich toward god

“The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:” - Luke 12:16

And then what did he do with it? What would you do with it? What am I doing with the harvest?

We can read this parable and see the very obvious lesson to be learned, be charitable with your resources. If you are successful in life, look around and share that material richness with others. Be a good steward over the ‘plentiful fruit’ you have acquired. I love this message. I see many great examples of this and think about how I can also do the same.

In addition to that, I read this parable in a less literal way, which is often in scriptures where the writers is trying to lead the reader as we know. Lets look at a few more verses and think about this in a spiritual sense, dont think literal fruit.

“And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” - Luke 12:17-19

Rich man is gonna be fat and happy the rest of his life, things are looking good for him, until they are not…

“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” - Luke 12:20

Dang, its all gone just like that. His fate is not unique though, all people are then brought it to this story with a warning that we could join this rich man if we fill our own barns.

“So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” - Luke 12:20

A core message of the Gospel of Christ. Focus on giving. Focus on the humans around you. You cant cultivate a heart for the world if you are focused on yourself.

When I read this, I feel like I am doing well in the literal sense. In general, being charitable and generous are important to me and I take opportunities and find opportunities to be ‘rich toward God’ with my material resources.

That’s halfway there. In the spiritual sense, I have work to do.

I have felt very blessed in my life to feel like I truly have had a storehouse of ‘spiritual fruit.’ My barns are full of so many wonderful memories, experiences, learnings, thoughts, answers to prayer, and in many more unseen ways, the protecting forces of providence.

It has occurred to me that many, but not all, of those can and should be shared. These are my fruits that should be taken and shared in order to be ‘rich toward God.’

My intent in writing is to be better at being “rich toward [a] God” that has been good to me. To show my gratitude and to recognize that I need to share, for the off chance that there is a passerby that needed that morsel of light from God too, not just me.