#DailyDevotion Are We Trusting In Jesus Or Wealth?

Luke 12: ³³“Sell what you have and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves purses that don’t wear out and a treasure that will never be used up — in heaven, where no thief gets near it and no moth destroys it. ³⁴Where your treasure is, there your heart will be.” ³⁵“Be ready for action with belts fastened and lamps burning, ³⁶like men waiting for their master when he comes back from a wedding, so that they can open the door for him the moment he comes and knocks. ³⁷Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds watching when he comes. I tell you he’ll certainly fasten his belt, have them lie down for a meal, and come and serve them. ³⁸Even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward morning and finds them that way, blessed are they. ³⁹“You know if the owner of a house had known just when the burglar was coming, he would not have let anyone break into his house. ⁴⁰You, too, get ready, because the Son of Man is coming when you don’t expect Him.”

So Jesus strikes at the heart of the largest religion in the world, the worship of wealth, with these words in verse thirty-three. Who can do it? Who can sell everything they have and give the money to the poor? Well perhaps we can just give to the poor what they need for the day, that we run into this day, from the abundance the Lord has given us. You are the reason Jesus has given us the promise that God will provide for our daily needs. You are the means through which those who have nothing don’t need to be anxious about what they will eat or wear, for you have more than you need for today. In this way, as we take from what is ours is give to the person who needs food and clothing for today, we worship wealth just a little bit less. Should we fear we won’t have enough for later or that they really don’t need it or we just don’t want to encourage more begging, Jesus gives us this promise that when we give to the poor, we are making purses that don’t wear out and a treasure that will never wear out in heaven. So where is your heart? It is it in heaven? Is that where your treasures are? Or are all your treasures in your bank account, home, or investments? When you open your hand to the poor to provide them what they need for today, you are storing up treasure in heaven.

So, get ready for action Jesus tells us. That is, be prepared to do what Jesus has told us to do. Make up in your own mind to be ready to do especially the things he mentioned in chapter twelve. What are some of those things: To not fear men but to trust in God, to boldly confess the name of Jesus without fear, to not be greedy, to give to the poor. Mind you this really is not an exhaustive list. Jesus commands us to do so much more. But first and foremost we are to trust him and to trust his promises. Then we are to go about our lives as if we did trust his promises.

If we do this then look at this great and marvelous promise Jesus gives us, “I tell you he’ll certainly fasten his belt, have them lie down for a meal, and come and serve them.” If we wait for Jesus and do the things he commands us to do, he will wait on us like a servant when he returns. That is what he is describing. When Jesus returns he will wait on those who are waiting on him to return. He will have us recline at the table and serve us the meal he has prepared for us. This is crazy. But that is Jesus has promised here. Never the less we are to have the attitude Jesus tells us here, Luk 17:10 “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

So don’t get lazy in your Christian life. Trust in Jesus’ promises and do what he has commanded you to do. He is coming at a time you don’t expect him. His reward and recompense is with him. Are you trusting Jesus’ promises?  Are you doing what he commands? Are you waiting eagerly for his return? Great and marvelous rewards are waiting for those who trust Jesus and his words.

Heavenly Father, grant us faith in your son Jesus Christ and his words, that we may eagerly await his return and be busy doing the things he has command us to do until his return, so we may receive from him all that that he has promised us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.