“That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21 CSB)
Devotional
How much would actually make you feel safe? Not comfortable, safe. Because if you’re honest, the number probably keeps moving. You hit the savings goal and immediately set a new one. You get the raise and the relief lasts about a week before the anxiety finds a new target.
Jesus tells a story about a man whose harvest is so good he doesn’t know where to store it all. His solution is to tear down his barns and build bigger ones, then finally relax, eat, drink, and enjoy himself. God calls him a fool that same night, not because wealth is evil, but because the man had quietly made his security the whole point of his life. “That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
I don’t think Jesus is telling us not to save or plan ahead. He’s asking a sharper question: what are you actually building toward? The man in the story wasn’t wrong to have a good harvest. He was wrong to think a bigger barn could give him what only God actually offers, which is real security that doesn’t depend on the next good year showing up.
Being rich toward God looks less like a bank statement and more like open hands. It’s noticing what you’ve been given and asking who else needs it. It’s trusting that your worth and your future don’t rise and fall with your account balance. That kind of security doesn’t come from a bigger barn. It comes from a Father who was never going anywhere.
Reflection
If I’m honest, I’ve chased a number more than once, thinking that once I hit it I’d finally feel secure, and it never actually delivered on that promise. I want to keep asking what I’m really building toward, not just how much I’m building up.
Prayer
Father, we confess how easily we look to our savings, our plans, our own effort for the security that only you can actually give. Loosen our grip on what we’ve stored up. Teach us what it means to be rich toward you instead, generous, open handed, and trusting that you’ll still be enough tomorrow.