"I am the LORD your God...you shall have no other gods before me."
"Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one."
This foundational command which forms our covenant with God is the lens through which we understand the other commands. What do we hear or understand when we use this command as our lens for the parable of the foolish rich man in Luke 12?
Idols take all shapes and forms. For the rich land owner, it was having more and more in the way of the harvest which he kept for himself in larger and larger barns. Perhaps this hoarding reminded him of his ability to harvest. Perhaps this hoarding made him feel secure or better than others or powerful.
Luke tells us: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." We have been promised the kingdom, but it's not enough. We still demand that we must hoard and save and collect because, apparently, we do not believe that God will provide. The problem here is not that the land owner used his God-given skills to provide for himself. It is that he used his God-given skills to hoard more than what he needed, and thereby denied others what others needed. When we hoard and take more than our share, we are denying others their needs. When we take more than our share, we are taking away someone else's share. Daily we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Give us today what is needed. Give us. Jesus did not teach us to pray, "Give me." Let us live what we pray.
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