Introduction
In our Christian walk, we should all strive to be rich toward God, not toward the things of the world. The Lord Jesus, in His Word, tells us in many places that we must build riches in heaven, not on this Earth. In this blog article, we analyze the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21, then show three examples from the Gospels of disciples of the Lord being rich toward God.
Bible Examples of Being Rich Toward God
The Lord Jesus, in Luke 12:16-21, gives us the parable of the rich fool, which teaches about the meaninglessness of riches in this world. We may be concerned about various financial issues in our lives, as this man in Luke 12:13-15 was when he approached the Lord with his financial concerns. However, the Lord Jesus did not get involved in his personal matter; instead, He gave the parable of the rich fool for the whole world to learn from. We will comment below on this entire passage of Scripture in Luke 12:13-21.
13 And certain one out of the multitude said to Him, Teacher, command my brother to share the inheritance with me.
We can see that the beloved Son of God is more than just a man. He is a Teacher of this world and also the Law-Keeper of humans. The question of this person tells us that the Lord Jesus is the judge who can give orders on what to do when disagreements arise between humans, even disagreements among relatives. Because people have experienced the Lord’s teachings between right and wrong, He can point out what is wrong, and also He can point out what is right; people have considered Him the judge for their problems and questions of life they have.
14 And He said to him, Man, who appointed Me a magistrate or a divider against you?
The Lord of life is giving this question to make everyone in that place and everyone that will read this sentence think about who has set Him up to be the judge. He did not ask for the position, but humans have set Him up; in that case, all humans should and must listen to His judgment. If humans themselves set Him up, why do they not listen to His word? The blame at the judgment time will go on all humans.
The verse says, “who appointed Me a magistrate …” So when the situation arises, and they ask His opinion, that means they have put Him in the position by themselves.
15 Then He said to them, Be you discerning, and vigilantly keep yourselves from every kind of avarice, for your life is not in the abundance of that which you possess.
“Keep yourselves from every kind of avarice.” The mercy of God has been shown as well in this place; the Lord has told us the way out: covetousness is the main issue for humans because humans’ eyes are not on the creation of this world but are on the valuables in humans’ eyes as the things humans have created, and they possess things as it is important for them to be someone of this world but do not give thanks to the Creator who created them all.
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain wealthy person brought forth a good harvest,
17 and he was reasoning within himself, saying, What shall I do, for I have not where to collect up my harvest?
For this rich man, his land has yielded out so much, and this made his heart swell with pride. His mind already planned what he would do for the future, but he did not think yet to give thanks to the Lord of life, who made his field yield out so much for him.
18 And he said, This will I do: I will destroy my storehouse, and will build greater; and there will collect up all the wheat and my goods.
As the verse tells us here, he destroyed his own barns with his heart full of greed. His heart now is overjoyed with the harvest that he has gathered; he thinks of the future but still does not give thanks to the Lord of life.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up for many years; rest, eat, drink, be merry.
We can see from this verse that he did not tell himself, but he told his soul. This act shows how deeply the mind of this man rejoices in the riches of this world; that is all that he has in his mind. It shows the deep meaning of the things for him and, for all the treasure he has, the greed has gone deep into his soul.
20 But God said to him, Foolish one, this night is your soul demanded back of you; and what you have prepared, to whom will be?
The verse tells all that you rejoice in the daytime, but when the night comes, you might perish. So, who will benefit from all the riches you have collected? It will not be you; you will perish tonight.
“… is your soul demanded back of you.” When the Lord has taken you away from this earth, your soul itself will take your life with it, and that is why the verse tells all to think twice; what you have collected on this earth means nothing for the soul.
21 So is the one that stores up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God.
This parable has many spiritual applications and depth. However, we would like to focus on this last verse, which talks about being rich towards God. This person has amassed treasures of this earth but did not build treasures for the world to come. The treasures of this earth mean nothing to the Lord; you don’t buy any place with the Lord in heaven unless you build up treasures towards the Lord. So, the question for us is how to be rich towards God and store treasures in heaven, not on earth.
Meditating on this parable, one might think to themselves, assuming this is a real case, from God’s will, what should they do to be considered rich towards God? However, if the Lord blessed the person on this earth, the Lord wants that person to go and bless someone else as well. If you have more, give out more because all you have is coming from the Lord; what you have is not yours but the Lord’s; as the Lord gives you, go out and give to others; this way, you are building treasures towards God.
We can talk endlessly about this topic, and we can find many references in the Bible. But, for this blog, we will focus on three significant Bible passage examples to illustrate how different people respond to the Lord’s call and how their actions are considered rich towards God.
First, in Matthew 27:55-56 we read that many women have ministered to the Lord Jesus during His ministry on earth.
55 And many women were there beholding from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him,
56 among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
These women did not follow because their children followed the Lord Jesus but because their own hearts wanted to follow; they followed their hearts in all of these.
These women came from many places to follow the Lord Jesus. They followed the Lord and provided for His needs; by their own will, they gave all they had. They have been faithful to the Lord. They left everything behind and followed the Lord; they simply followed and provided without expecting anything in return. All they had, they gave to the Lord. Now, we don’t have to give money directly to the Lord for His personal needs; we just need to give our heart to the Lord; our heart is the most important treasure to the Lord, and He is happy to receive it. Some of these women had money on their own, and some found work as they followed to make a living. And the majority of what they made, they gave to the Lord. Therefore, they were considered rich in spirit toward God, and that is why their names are written here, to remember them.
Second, in Matthew 27:57-60, we read about the rich man Joseph of Arimathea, who gave his own tomb to bury the Lord Jesus’ body.
57 And when evening came, a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, came, who also himself was discipled to Jesus;
58 he having gone to Pilate, asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded it to be given up.
59 And having taken the body, Joseph wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and having rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, he went away.
This man played a pivotal role among those who followed the Lord Jesus after His crucifixion. Joseph’s action could cause him to be in trouble by associating himself with a criminal, as the Lord Jesus was labeled a criminal on the cross. He could be in trouble himself; this is a man people should look up to. The Lord Jesus was dead on the cross; He was not among them on earth anymore, and this man followed what the Holy Spirit put into his heart to donate his new tomb for the body of the Lord Jesus without expecting anything in return.
This act is a sample of teaching for us: give to the Lord without expecting anything in return for your giving. But many Christians nowadays come to the Lord and want something from the Lord. Joseph gave his own tomb without expecting to be paid for it, and by doing so, he was considered rich in spiritual terms toward God.
Lastly, in Mark 12:41-44 the Lord Jesus gives us the story of the widow’s offering.
41 And having sat down opposite the treasury, He saw how the multitude cast money into the treasury; and many rich cast in much.
42 And having come, one poor widow cast in two lepta, which is a kondrantes.
43 And having called His disciples, He says to them, Truly I say to you, This poor widow has cast in more than all of those casting into the treasury:
44 for all did cast in out of that which was abounding to them; but she out of her poverty did cast in all as much as she had, all of her living.
Here, the Lord Jesus teaches us that we should not give to the Lord from our leftovers, but we should give to the Lord from the most valuable we have; it can be small, but that small amount, after all, is more valuable than a significant amount. Fundamentally, this teaching tells us you give from what you don’t need, or you give from what you need, but you are willing to give the things you need to the Lord; that is the heart of giving that the Lord likes to see, give from the heart, not for the eyes of people. A person who gives from the heart, not for the eyes of people to see, is rich spiritually toward God.
Conclusions
So, what can we learn from these Bible passages, and how can we be rich towards God these days? We see that all these people sacrificed something valuable and gave it to the Lord from their hearts without expecting anything in return.
Therefore, we should think about what is valuable for us and if that valuable thing is something that the Lord wants us to give to Him. Maybe that valuable thing the Lord wants is to love Him more than the things or the people around us: perhaps it is that time we spend entertaining ourselves with the things of the world, or maybe it is our money that the Lord wants us to use for some charity activity, or perhaps it is showing love to the enemy, or perhaps is praying more for others.
In conclusion, whatever the valuable things in our earthly life might be for us, let us all pray and ask the Lord how we can love Him more, what we should do about our earthy valuable things, and how to transform them into spiritual treasures towards the Trinity of God (God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christy, God the Holy Spirit).
Meditation Tasks:
1. Meditate on our valuable things in this world and see how we can give our worldly valuables to the Lord and be pleasing to Him.