Subtitle: Try to focus only on the treasures you are laying up in heaven. Ask God to help you learn what He is teaching you.
Excerpt: A man in a crowd asks Jesus to intervene in a family inheritance dispute. Jesus refuses, rebuking the man’s selfishness and prompting a parable about wealth and heavenly treasures. The passage encourages focusing on following Christ rather than our own preferences.
Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Luke 12:13, “Someone in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.'”
Background
We’ve all been in a large group setting, listening to a speaker deliver some sort of message or seminar. And when he reaches the end of his presentation, there is often an opportunity for those in the audience to ask questions. And though there may be a couple hundred people in the audience, rarely is even one question asked. The listeners, for whatever reasons, just aren’t too willing to throw themselves out there before a large group of strangers. But in our passage today, there is one in the crowd listening to Jesus who seizes the opportunity to get some help with his family crisis. It seems the man is not happy with the way the family inheritance has been handled, and he wants Jesus to come and rule in his favor. But Jesus’ response is the perfect example of why so many of us don’t speak up when the opportunity is offered. He not only tells the man He can’t help him, but He also rebukes him for his selfish desires and misguided priorities. What seemed like a perfect setting for this man to get a satisfying resolution to his financial problems ends up blowing up in his face. It even prompts Jesus to tell one of His most well-known and stinging parables regarding wealth and possessions and heavenly treasures. It makes you wonder if Jesus is looking at this man when He concludes His parable, saying, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you.”
Application
And it also convicts me of how quickly I lose focus of what’s important and what’s not. Jesus had just spoken very plainly about fearing God and nothing else. He had just taught about His care for us and the dangers of hypocrisy. So how are the thoughts of this man only on his family inheritance? Well, how do we listen to His Word and then complain about our problems? How do we listen to His Word and then still want things done the way we want them, even in church? If Jesus is our Teacher, let’s be faithful students. If we speak up, let’s make sure it’s for the right reasons.
Charge
As we seek Him today, try to focus only on the treasures you are laying up in heaven. Ask God to help you learn what He is teaching you.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Distributed by – BCWorldview.org