TO BE RICH TOWARD GOD
Brother James, OIC
Luk 12:16-21 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
To be rich towards God has nothing to do with the abundance of things you possess, houses you own, cars you drive, careers you have, how rich you are nor whether along with all this you claim to be a Christian. To be a Christian and to be rich toward God is to Love others as Christ loved you, it is to grow in Grace and the Knowledge of Truth. It is to help the downtrodden and not take advantage of the poor and it is to reach out to those lost, lonely and hurting.
The rich man above was not rich in Faith toward God. He relied on his own abilities to grow fruits and store them, he was self sufficient full of esteem which is pride and he was not going to be saved.
Salvation requires Faith, not self sufficiency, and Faith has nothing to do with your worldly success nor what you possess, in fact it has only to do with what you are yet to receive from God:
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The things you hope for are never about what you see:
Rom 8:24-25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
To be saved by hope is to be delivered, recovered from the daily onslaughts of this worlds god; Satan, his empty successes and his false solutions that the world and false brethren clamor after.
We are Born Again to a Living Hope that True Faith in Gods Promises delivers:
1Pe 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
And it is only the richness of Faith toward God that delivers us and reborn us into a New Creation:
Heb 6:11-12 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The reason this occurs by God in us is so we can then show the riches of His Grace toward others:
2Co 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
And in this your richness of Faith toward God is clearly seen.
