The Doorpost: How rich are we toward God?

“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:20-21

Riches are an important topic in the Bible. Jesus talked about them often. Many of His parables used riches in their illustrations. We tend to go to one of two extremes when we discuss riches.

Some people say that riches are a sign of God’s blessing. The more you have, the more blessed you are. Some even go so far as to say that a lack of riches indicates a lack of faith. At the other extreme are those who say that riches are evil and that Christians should give away all they have. There is Scripture we can quote that seems to support either viewpoint.

But the passage above shows that the issue is not how much money we have. One person may have very little money, and still be living only for himself. Another person may have a lot of money, but be completely dedicated to using it as God directed him. The question is not our amount of earthly riches. The question is how rich we are toward God.

Both riches and the lack of riches can tempt us to not live our lives for God. A rich man may have the means to go ahead and do things even if they aren’t what God wants. He can be tempted to depend on himself instead of God. A poor man may be so destitute that he thinks God has given him nothing to use. He may turn bitterly against God.

Let’s all—rich, poor, or in-between—commit everything God has entrusted to us (including our own lives) to be used only for His purposes. Let’s be rich toward God.