In this weeks gospel Jesus speaks about a rich fool. Jesus shares a story about a man who was blessed by God with land. He worked his land and was able to make a fortune. Over time this man became consumed by his finances and material wealth. Well, on this man's last day alive God approached him and asked him what was going to happen to all the possessions that he accumulated. God called him a fool and made it clear that true wealth does not come from material goods. They come from a relationship with God.
It is so easy to get caught up in your own life and forget about the things that are really important. I will be the first to admit that I spend many hours a week working so I can provide financial security for my family. Maybe it’s too many hours. Maybe it’s getting in my way of my relationship with the Lord. I’m not sure. There is something that I am sure about though. I am sure is that I have been blessed. I have been blessed to have seen that financial security is important but not nearly as important as your relationship God. I have been blessed to have seen people loose everything while they were on a mission to gain material wealth. I’ve been blessed to see families fall apart because accumulating wealth was more important than anything else, so now I know better. I’ve seen relationships with wives, kids, coworkers, relationships with basically everyone fall apart when too much emphasis is placed on material wealth. Over the years, d found out that more “stuff” doesn’t mean a better life. You may have material wealth but deep inside we all know what real wealth is. To me, real wealth is a relationship with the Lord. That’s a relationship that can outlast the feeling you get from a new gadget. A relationship with the Lord will outshine any new car you buy. A relationship with the Lord will weather any storm better than any house you buy. A relationship with the Lord stands the test of time. Every time. There have been times in my life when the only thing that I was able to count on was my relationship with the Lord. Have you had those times? A time when there wasn’t a new gadget that you could buy to solve a problem. A time when your faith was all that was left? That’s when you really get to see how valuable the Lord is to you. Yet, when life gets better we go back to our normal lives, working on our next big purchase or trying to make some more bucks to put away.
How many hours a week do we put into our relationship with you know who? How much time per day do you leave out to get connected? If you are like me... probably not enough. I know I can do more. I know that the rich fool Jesus spoke of didn’t get it. How about you? Do you get it? Maybe today is the day we make a change. Maybe today we can take a good look at our lives and start to focus on what really matters. Maybe today is our day to put down the gadgets, and shiny things and pick up something way more valuable before you end up accumulating nothing but fools gold.
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