|
A Weekly Sharing of
Reflection on the Word of God
5th. Sunday
after Epiphany: 5th. February 2006
Dear Friends
Greetings in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Worry and Security - 3
Jesus told them
this parable, "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good
crop. He thought to himself,’ What shall I do? I have no place
to store my crops.’
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. 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."
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? "This is how it will be with anyone who
stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
(Luke 2:13-21)
Read the word of Jesus a few times to be clear of what he is saying
to us today. We have reflected on Jesus teaching on worry and
security and realized where our main worries are and where we can
find our security. Three things we worry most are health,
wealth and success in our endeavors.
This week we shall look at wealth. God created us to
work and maintain his creation. Work brings forth wealth. We
see the wealth that comes from the produce and products made
possible by our work and effort using the talents and skills God has
provided. This is renewable and grows season after season.
From the balance left after our needs are met we accrue savings
which turn to wealth. We are called to be prudent in our expenses
and savings.
God promised Abraham that he would be great and receive blessing if
he obeyed God. Abraham obeyed and he and his family were
richly blessed. God provided the Jews when they entered the
promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. God provided them
a rich land flowing with milk and honey. God desires his
people to have an abundant life; Jesus says that he came so that the
people may have abundant life. God richly blesses us to use our
talents and skills not only for our needs but also for the needs of
others.
The danger is when accumulating wealth becomes the only basis for
our lives on the earth. The accumulated wealth can become our
security. Jesus warns us against this when He says, "Watch
out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does
not consist in the abundance of his possessions. (Luke 12:15).
Here greed can set in if we are not careful. We can fail to see that
God is in control. We see the wealth we possess as our own and for
our benefits only. We fail to see that we are stewards trusted
to manage the wealth and that it is not only to benefit us but
others as well.
When we see that God is in control and that we are only stewards and
not owners of our wealth, we will see that our security is in God
alone and not on what we possess.
The following questions may help you in your reflection.
1. What role does wealth have in my
life?
2 What are the blessings I have
received?
3. Do I see the creative power of God
in my daily life? How?
This is sent out by email once a week. If you have just come
across this for the first time, and would like to receive it, please
send email. Your comments and views on this are most welcome.
With regards,
Fred
mailto:fvamw@tm.net.my?subject=Reflections
|