Tuesday September 3, 2013

Read Ecclesiastes 2:4-7. Luke 12:13-21

The great Australian dream is to own a house that can be called a home. People pour hours of energy and millions of dollars into creating their all Australian dream home. Weekends are often spent cleaning the house, fixing the gardens and doing outdoor projects to turn that house into a home.  Obviously, weekly home renovation and gardening TV shows attract a huge following.

 

The Teacher in Ecclesiastes similarly undertook great projects. He built grand houses and expansive vineyards for himself. He planted all kinds of fruit trees and created reservoirs to provide abundant water. And to top it all off, his great Israelite dream house was filled with men and maid servants. In terms of the great Aussie dream the Teacher had it all!

 

But even so, he concludes that it’s all meaningless. It’s simply a chasing after the wind. The Bible is not saying that if you have a house then you are automatically hell bound. It’s not saying that if you invest time and energy into the house and yard then you are a reprobate. What then is the Bible saying?

 

Jesus’ parable of the Rich Fool tells us plainly the true perspective. A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. The rich man in the parable grew much food and had to build bigger and bigger barns to house his harvest. However, one night his life was taken away from him and he appeared before God, destitute and poor.

 

Jesus warns us in this parable that our life is not measured by the house we build or the assets we fill it with. Our life’s meaning is far more than a grand house or a massive investment portfolio. One’s life can be taken away in an instant and our great Aussie dream will die with us. Our life’s meaning is to be rich towards God. What that means is that we have a growing and deepening relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. It means that we find meaning and value in serving Him, in doing His will and in being His ambassador. It means that each day we grow in love, in knowledge and in appreciate of God and His love, grace and mercy for us. It means that we grow to be like Him each and every single day.

 

What we own and what we have is relatively unimportant in the eternal scheme of life. You can’t take any of your things with you as you go to stand before God. Your money, your house, your assets and your things will be of no value or help to you as you stand before God.

 

What will help you and be of benefit is your relationship with God. If you are rich towards God then you will hear Him say those wonderful words, ‘Welcome home good and faithful servant.’ If you are not rich towards God, you are in deep, deep trouble. Now’s the time to invest in true riches.

 

Prayer:

Write down at least one prayer point in each category based on the following verse.

This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself

but is not rich towards God.

Luke 12:21

Adoration:

 

Confession:

 

Thanks:

 

Supplication:

¥ Pray that God would bless and enrich the ministry of Shiloh Church Ministries in India. Ask the Lord to provide the daily needs of the children and staff through churches such as yours. Pray that God would bring true riches to the orphans through a deepening relationship with Himself.

¥ Pray that God would use Student Life and Uni Impact (NZ) to bring the message of hope and reconciliation to many students in campuses around both countries. Pray too that the respective organisations would have the resources they need to continue ministering and serving students with the message of Christ Jesus.

 

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. How could Ducksville Presbyterian Church structure its services so that each party is growing and thriving in Christ and not just sitting through the service, enduring the bits they don’t like?

2. What role does GRACE play in finding a working solution to this problem?