Don’t Forget About Your Mission
Series: Saving & Investing Wisely
Devotional: 3 of 3
[Jesus] told [His disciples] this parable: “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
We have been taking a look at the Parable of the Rich Fool the last few weeks to better understand why this rich man was considered a fool. Again, he practiced many of the biblical money principles we learn from scripture such as saving and planning ahead. So what made this particular situation so foolish?
Let’s examine a third mistake that this rich man made.
He forgot about his mission
As I mentioned, we have tons of evidence that God encourages us to save money and to put some aside for our futures. One classic example is in Luke 14:28.
Even though we are called to save money, the the primary goal for our finances should not be financial independence (as we learned last week). All believers are called into the ministry of reconciliation according to 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, and therefore we have a much more fulfilling purpose than trying to achieve worldly financial success.
The ministry of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians refers to the work that each believer has been given to do and the message they are to declare: “You can have a restored relationship with God through Jesus!” Each follower of Christ has a part to play in this ministry of reconciliation even down to the way that they spend and manage their money.
The rich man forgot about this ministry as he obviously made his own goals more important.
To be clear – God doesn’t need our money whatsoever. He is God afterall, the one who can raise the dead to life. Whether you are rich towards him or not, he will carry out his will for the world.
But how cool is it that you and I are invited to participate in this extremely important mission? It should be seen as an honor and we should pursue it with a passion like no other!
As we have seen in the example of this rich man, our life in the world is short. While we still live here on earth, God does take an account of how well we manage the resources he has given us. In Luke 16:10-12 we are reminded that our Father wants to know if we can be trusted with ‘the true riches of heaven.’ He determines this by observing how we manage worldly wealth.
You shouldn’t wait until tomorrow to join in this mission for the Kingdom!
Your Friend,
Katie
Reflection Questions
- On a scale from 1-5 how well are you currently participating in the ministry of reconciliation? Why?
- Read the passage from 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 on the Ministy of Reconcilliation. In verse 13 & 14, Paul mentions being “out of their mind” because “Christ’s love compels us.” Has God ever called to you do something that seems rather “out of your mind?” What was the result of following his lead?
- Have you been putting the call to the ministry of reconciliation on hold in order to pursue your own goals and dreams?
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