Individuals who have attended church for a while typically are familiar with the story of the rich, young ruler.
*He comes to Jesus asking what he must do to inherit eternal life.
*Jesus tells him to obey the commandments
*The rich, young ruler says that he has kept them.
*Then Jesus tells him to sell everything and give to the poor in order to have treasure in heaven.
*The man leaves sadly because of his great wealthy. (Luke 18:18-30; Mark 10:17-31; Matthew 19:16-30)
Generally, when I hear sermons on this passage, there is an aside mentioned that this was Jesus's conversation with the rich, young ruler, not a command to all believers.
That's fine and dandy, but it doesn't take Luke 12:22-34 in account. In this chapter, Jesus is talking to the crowds and His disciples. This section is specifically addressed to His disciples, and Jesus tells them, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Luke 12:33-34)
We don't talk about this speech recorded in Luke, not addressed to a specific person, but to the disciples.
In the USA, we are a rather possessive lot. My money. My house. My car. My stuff. We give lip service that everything comes from God, but we nonetheless are spending a lot of money on things that are not necessities.
Everything we have comes from God, BUT everything is still God's. We are stewarding His resources that He has entrusted to us. So when we spend money, we are spending His money. Everything we own, therefore is His. He can instruct us to sell it, give it away, or avoid buying it in the first place, because it is not ours.
So the question we must ask ourselves is this:
Does God want me to spend His money this way?
Does He want me to sell anything to help the poor in my community and around the world?
Am I storing up for myself treasure on earth instead of on heaven?
New International Version (NIV)
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