BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST ALL KINDS OF GREED, A MAN'S LIFE DOESNOT CONSIST IN THE ABUNDANCE OF HIS POSSESIONS

 In life we often over look the most important things and give importance to things that matter less.  Our lives are full of dissatisfaction always wanting to have more each day that passes by to the extent of exploiting others so that we can meet our desires and ambitions at the expense of others. Its always about us  and how we can enjoy life smoothly.  We tend to desire the best for ourselves not even willing to share the little  we have with others. We pile up things for ourselves  because we know that the more wealth we have the more secure we are and life easied for us. But Jesus called this kind of ambition greed and he warned us that we should on our guard against all kinds of greed, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions ( Luke 12:15). In other words, the more possessions you have does not grant you life. Life is a gift from God and we can't find it in our accumulation of possessions, you can't buy it with money ,its more important than the possessions we have and everyday we get to live we should be grateful to God who gives us the breath of life. Some one on the hospital bed fighting for his life can tell you how life is a precious gift from God because he feels the pain of it being taken from him any time if God does not have mercy on him. Luke 12:13-21 talks about one gentle man who asked Jesus to plead with his brother to share the inheritance with him and Jesus' response to this man

LUKE 12: 13-21

 13     Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

14
Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"
15
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
16
And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
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He thought to himself, `What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18
"Then he said, `This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
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And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'
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"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?'
21

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

From the scripture above we see that Jesus taught this man and others to be watchful and be on their guard against all kinds of greed because a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. In simple sense,he was telling this man and people in the crowd  to be content with what God has given them. Being greedy and hungry for more comes with a lot of  dissatisfaction and lack of peace. Life is more important than all possessions. If you are healthy and strong be grateful to God for this gift of life.

In mark 4:19 Jesus talks about how the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things cause unfruitfulness in us. Thus contentment in God brings fruitfulness and builds in us the heart of thanks giving to God rather than a heart that is greedy for more.

From the  parable above Jesus gives an example of a man who is full of the desires of this world. His heart is centered around his riches and how to accumulate more of it. He is focusing on himself how he can enjoy life and how to build a fortress of riches to find contentment.  We see his heart is not in God but in his wealth like the scripture that says where your treasure is that is where your heart is ( Mathew 6:21).  This man is forgetting that what  he is piling up is meaning less and he forgets the author of life.

From this parable we learn  to have a heart that is rich towards God. Being rich towards God means to love the Lord with all your heart, with all  your soul, and with all your mind. And loving your neighbour as yourself (Mathew 22:37-39). Putting God first in every thing we do and sharing with God ' s people most especially those in need as Jesus puts it sell your possession and give to the poor then you will have a treasure in heaven ( Luke 12: 32-34). 

Our trust should be in our Heavenly father and not our riches. We should find contentment only in him and his son Jesus Christ . This means abiding in him and his word remaining in us (John 15:7). The things in this world will always disappoint us at one point in life but our true peace is only in Jesus Christ.

All  those who are rich in this world  should not be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with every thing for our enjoyment. They should  do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up, a treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so they may take  hold of life that is truly life ( 1 Timothy 6 : 17-19)

In conclusion, God is our treasure , thus we should find our contentment in him . Loving him and making him first will help us bear fruits in him and save us from any kind of greed and the pleasures of this world since the peace he gives is peace of mind and peace of heart.

# PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father, I repent of any kind of greed that has been in my life and I pray that you feel my life with the peace that comes with abiding in Jesus Christ your son. May my contentment be only in you and Jesus my Lord. In the name  of Jesus I have prayed. Amen.

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