Rich toward God
Luke 12:13–21
One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Luke 12:15
To be “rich toward God” (Luke 12:21) means that one is to be rich in spiritual things, which will last, as opposed to being rich only in material things, which will not last.
What must we do to achieve such riches? There are two prerequisites. First, we must determine that we really want them and that we, therefore, are willing to serve God first and foremost, rather than our possessions. The Lord himself said, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matt. 6:24). The word translated here as “money” is the Hebrew word mammon, meaning “material possessions.” It came from a root meaning “to entrust” or “to place in someone’s keeping.” Mammon, therefore, meant “the wealth entrusted to another.”
As time passed, however, the meaning of the word shifted away from the passive mood (“that which is entrusted”) to the active (“that in which one trusts”). Now the word, whose original meaning was best represented by a small m, came to be spelled with a capital letter as designating a god.
That development repeats itself in anyone who does not have his eyes fixed on spiritual treasures. Have things become your god? Do they obscure God? It may not be so, but if you think more about your home, car, vacation, bank account, clothes, makeup, or investments than God, then you are serving Mammon and building treasure on earth. According to Jesus, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (v. 21).
The second necessary thing if we are to become rich toward God is that we must empty ourselves of anything that would take the place of those spiritual riches. We must become poor in spirit before we can become rich in spiritual blessings (see 5:3). We must empty the heart of greed, pride, and other sins so that the riches of God can flow in.
That is what God’s children have found. Before his conversion, Augustine was proud of his intellect and knowledge, and his pride kept him from believing on Christ. It was only after he had emptied himself of his pride and the sense of being able to manage his own life perfectly that he found God’s wisdom through the Bible. Martin Luther’s experience was similar. When the future reformer entered the monastery at a young age, it was to earn his salvation through piety and good works. Nevertheless, he had an acute sense of failure. It was only after he had recognized his own inability to please God and had emptied himself of all attempts to earn salvation that God touched his heart and showed him the true way.
An empty vessel is what you must be if God is to fill you with the life of Christ and enable you to live for him—even in the use of your possessions.
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.