Jesus spoke of a rich man who thought he could look forward to many years of comfort and wealth. Jesus said, "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 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."

"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 12:16-21. The rich man's plans were abruptly ended by God's plan.

Life isn't about accumulating bigger and better things or having larger bank accounts. It is about making ourselves available to the Lord with whatever we've been given. Neither are we to think we control the length of our lives or the timing of our death. Instead, with the time we are given we are to be rich towards God and considerate of Him with all we have and are.

Being rich towards God means loving Him with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. We devote ourselves to find out what pleases Him that we might do it.

Those who love Him take Him into consideration and give themselves to Him without reservation. It involves yielding all we have to His control and leading. It especially means giving our life to Jesus Christ, God's Son, who died on the cross for our sins so that we might have forgiveness and eternal salvation. This is wealth that will never end.

Pastor Greg Brownell

Dayton United Brethren Church