Did you ever want something so bad you could taste it? I remember as a young guy watching Magnum, P.I. He drove that Ferrari Deno. It was sweet. I even hung a poster of it above my bed when I was at Harding University. I always wanted one of those and it is on my bucket list to at least to “rent” and drive one day.
But there are moments when what we want gets in the way of our relationships with people and God and our health. Jesus warns us in Luke 12:13-21, “Beware. Watch out…” Our selfish desires can sneak up on us. With sexual sin, the Bible tells us to “run”. But greed and selfish desire sneaks up on us. There are some things we learn from the story Jesus tells in the text.
Greed can confuse your self-worth. We have to remember “things” do not define us. Jesus does! We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. Jesus is our King and brother. We are made in his image. Nothing on earth compares to that.
Greed can ruin your relationships. Some of my closest friends and even relatives have ended up focusing on money. Every time we were together, it was always about money. And if I didn’t give them money or what they wanted in the moment, I did not love them. At least, that’s what they told me. So, because of greed, I’ve lost many relationships and some have turned into very shallow interaction.
Greed can harden your heart as well. If you’ve seen The Return of the King in the Lord of Ring series, you saw what happened to Gollum. He was a Hobbit that started out fishing with a friend. Before the day was over, they had found the ring and Gollum’s friend was dead. He lost everything after that because he only cared about himself and the ring. If we aren’t careful and live life with open hands, we’ll end up with a closed heart.
But what if your identity was all about what and how you give in your life, not about what you keep? Jesus says at the end of Luke 12, “Your treasure is where your heart is.” I’m not always good at it but I gave my heart to Jesus a long time ago. He is my treasure. Won’t you make him yours? Learning to let go of stuff is a tough one but as followers of Jesus, we learn to let go in order to hang on to him. Blessings on your journey.