|
Looking for spiritual refreshment? God Pause e-mail devotions are short, meaningful reflections on
the following Sunday's lessons and gospel delivered directly to your e-mail box.
By Sunday, you'll be ready for an extra meaningful worship experience.
Our devotion writers are Luther Seminary alumni/ae. Their reflections are a
gift to you and to the church.
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, 7/29/2010
Luke 12:13-21
Take care! This is the usual way I end a phone conversation. It is the typical way I sign a letter. It is what Jesus tells the crowd as he introduces the parable of the rich man who gets richer. Take care, because there is danger all around. Take care, because there is so much in this world that can do us harm. You wouldn't think a parable about a big harvest would begin with words of warning. Isn't a big harvest just what is hoped for in farm country?
But take care, because poverty and hunger are not the only things that might kill you. Too much of a good thing is still too much. Wealth, comfort, ease, they might not harm your body (although my doctor says they might), but they might very well kill your soul. Wealth is too dangerous to keep in big stacks around your house. You need to share it.
Take care!
Caring One, you are concerned about my well-being. You know all the ways I can go astray. Teach me to take care, so that the blessings you give do not become burdens instead. Help me to love the Giver more than the gift. Amen.
David Hamilton
Napa Valley Lutheran Church, Napa, Calif.
Master of Divinity, 1981
Luke 12:13-21 (NRSV)
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."
14 But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?"
15 And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."
16 Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly.
17 "And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?'
18 "Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 "'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'
20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'
21 "So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God."
return to devotion
|
|
|
|
Please forward this email to a friend!
This God Pause daily devotion is brought to you by alumni/ae of Luther Seminary.
To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this daily e-mail list, please visit
www.luthersem.edu/email.
To ensure that you
receive future e-mails, please add
communic@luthersem.edu to your address book or safe
sender list.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of
America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
