Reading your Bible for today July 4

July 4: Luke 12:13-21

KJV Key Verse: Luke 12:21
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Devotion:
If we take the focus off being there for other people and focus solely on being there for ourselves we have then turned our backs on God and gone with the way of the world. We can listen to wonderful ways and methods of doing things which are taught every day by the rich and famous. They will tell us of the things we need to be able to do in order to look after ourselves or in order to make sure we have a huge nest-egg we can enjoy later in life. They will tell us of all the good things we can do such as saving money and even using it to make more.

But none of this is going to be any good to us unless we are able to use it! If we build up our wealth and die in the process of doing that, we have gained absolutely nothing in the process. If we gain all the wealth we can here on earth whilst forgetting about what we are facing after our physical death, then we have lost focus on our future. Our future is not just what we have here on earth; our future is our eternal existence. Our souls are going to live on in one form or another. God has given us the choice so that we can determine where and how we spend our eternal existence.

Whilst there is nothing wrong in making sure you have enough money to live on, even comfortably, going all out just for the sake of money means we are losing sight of the important goal in our life – that of eternal life. There is nothing wrong in making a few million – as long as we are not going to make it the be-all and end-all of our existence. As long as we are keeping God in focus and doing His will, we may well be required to earn a whole bunch of money so that we can help out His people. There are some very rich people out there who are using a sizeable chunk of their personal wealth to help other people. God did not make us to be alone and we need to make sure that we do not turn our backs on His people, just when they need us most.

Points to Ponder:
Are you frantically saving for something?

How much are you building up for yourself in heaven?