I read a devotion tonight called More, More, More and it referenced Luke 12:13-21
Luke 12:13-21 New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “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. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “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?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
I found the devotion interesting but heart penetrating and it forced me to take a good hard look at myself. The devotion is all about people accumulating items because of their desire to buy stuff. This is just not present in the US, but apparently is a worldwide issue with large malls in China, Canada, US, etc…
There is nothing wrong with buying stuff, except when it takes our focus off of God. In the above passage, we are warned by Christ about accumulating treasures here on earth.
In our family, I am the spender, but is not about accumulating stuff as much as being independent because so many people are just untrustworthy. As an example, I have taken my vehicles into be serviced all to have something break within a few days of visiting the mechanics. It makes me wonder about their integrity. As a result I do not trust many blue collared workers.
I also buy stuff because I enjoy doing the tasks required. I like woodworking, metalworking, cars, gardening (only for the large tomatoes), inventing things to make life easier, carpentry, masonry, plumbing, and figuring out how things work. However, with all of these purchases, I try not to take my focus off of God.
God please help us to become more aware of where we are spending our time and money. Please help us to utilize our resources in a way that pleases you. Finally, please help us to focus our attention where it really needs to be and that is on you.