Be Rich Toward God

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “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. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“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?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:16-21

On earth he was a rich man; in Heaven he was a pauper. He had hoarded up wealth for himself on earth but had made no provision or preparation for Heaven. In other words, he had a bad investment strategy. Heaven doesn’t take Visa or America Express. The almighty dollar has no value there. Neither do euros, pesos or yen. If you and I are to be rich toward God then we need to convert earthly wealth into heavenly currency. Don’t be a fool! Don't let greed for something that is temporary (earthly wealth) keep you from riches that last forever. 

In this passage, Jesus gives us a key principle. The Christian's entire life, including how they steward their money, must be rethought in light of the coming kingdom of God. So, a Christian's financial outlook ought to look different than a non-believer's financial outlook. 

A typical investment portfolio might have bonds, mutual funds, an IRA, and even some real estate. And a Christian's investment portfolio will necessarily have some of the same. I understand that it is necessary for us to make money and even save money to prepare for our future, BUT don’t forget to be rich towards God! So a Christian's investment portfolio should also include investments in the kingdom of God. This would include things like giving to the poor, helping save a family member from bankruptcy, supporting an orphanage in Africa, sponsoring a child, supporting a missionary in Nicaragua, giving to your church, etc.

When you get to Heaven you are never going to look back and think I wish I drove a nicer truck on earth or had a bigger house or more expensive clothes but you very well may regret what you didn’t invest in the kingdom of God, what you didn’t give. So, be wise in diversifying your investments! Don't hoard all your wealth on earth, store up treasure in heaven. There it’s permanent. Here it’s temporary. So be rich towards God!