What IS My Life?

Nothing makes me as frustrated as seeing otherwise really nice people fight over an inheritance when a loved one dies. I have seen people maneuver to cheat one another out of something, even show up and take things when the house is empty. All those things were part of the loved one’s life, but the inescapable point is they don’t need their possessions anymore. As people fight over inheritance, they fuss and worry about things that their loved one no longer considers. But this time could and should be a time of reflection, asking ourselves, “What is my life?”

The Lord Jesus taught about how deeply God cares about our needs, including His wonderful words, “Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7).

Jesus’ reassurances about God’s care did not inspire the awe and thankfulness you think it might; in fact, someone in the crowd said, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me” (Luke 12:13). The Lord Jesus refused to get in the middle of that fight. Instead, He warned them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every kind of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). So, what is my life? It sure is not my stuff, or the stuff someone left me.

Being “Rich Toward God”

Jesus then shared the sobering parable, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’  But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:17-21). So, is my life rich toward God?

It is not when we hold things so tightly that we are rich toward God, but rather when we give them away. We are rich toward God when we do good and share. You’ll note in the parable that it was not being rich that made the man a fool, it was being in love with being rich. Life is about is loving God and loving others.

What is my life? If we are going to get it right, we need to be enamored of knowing the Lord. “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). That is what our life is about.