Reset Your Treasure
Reset
Jan 19, 2019 | Matthew Cork
Scripture: Luke 12:13-21, 33-34
Dive Deeper
Discovery Questions are the primary curriculum for Life Groups at Friends Church. Discovery Questions will help you dive deeper into the weekend teachings and give you deeper insight into the content .
Overview
It’s a nearly universal feeling at the beginning of the year: as credit card bills come due, we all realize we spent too much last year, and need to “rein it in” in this next year. But the cycle continues, doesn’t it? How do we really put the “reset” on our finances once and for all? Could the answer be counterintuitive, at least a little bit. That the best way to “reset” our finances is actually not to necessarily spend less–but to spend more, just on the right things?
That seems to be what Jesus suggests in Luke 12:13ff. In this passage, Jesus tells of a man who experiences the dream of many: he hits it “big.” His land (though little effort of his own) provides more than he needs. So much that he doesn’t have any idea of where to store it. Rather than provide it to others in generosity, storing it in the “mouths” of others–this man decides to keep it for himself. He builds bigger barns to store it all, so that he can live off of it for years, not having to work anymore. But there’s a problem–that night his life is taken from him. He failed to be generous towards others, and so God makes sure that what he has is given to others one way or another.
The lesson of this parable is found a few verses later, when Jesus tells us this: “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:33-34).
Jesus here provides the uncomfortable truth that everything we have ultimately comes from God. And with great gifts come great responsibility. God gives us what we have to provide for our needs, yes, but beyond those needs God wants–indeed, expects–us to be generous with others. In fact, the Bible seems to indicate that our generosity–or lack thereof–is a sign of where our heart is, where our priorities lie in this life. Are we fixated on ourselves? Or are we generous towards others?
Many people make resolutions in the new year to spend less. What if you made a resolution to spend more–but not more on yourself… more on other people? I know that scares many, but God promises that whenever we get serious about being generous to others, He will provide (see 2 Corinthians 9:8). How about we start somewhere this year and see what God does with it?
Remember, church: we can’t bring anything with us into eternity. But we can send it ahead in the investment we make on other people and on God’s Kingdom. What treasures will await you when you pass from this earth? That is entirely up to you.