Luke 12:13-21 - "Covetousness, which is Idolatry"

I believe I remember A.W. Tozer writing about how we live inthe age of a humanistic Christianity. Which means it is all about me! What Godand others can do for me. Instead of what I can do for Christ and others.  The sad truth isthat we have raised a generation of irresponsible, disrespectful people becausethey think it is all about them. “Have your own way”. “Do it your way”. “Whatdo you want to do”. “Follow your heart”. These are all indications of a humanisticheart and philosophy of life. It appears that today most Christians have alsogot caught up in this stream of materialism in America. Someone said it sowell, “We live in the day of rat race! We buy things we don’t need, with moneywe don’t have, to impress people we don’t even like”.  The Gospels are full of verses where Jesus deals with thesubject of money, greed, and covetousness. In His first recorded message in Matthew6:19-21, Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, wheremoth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up foryourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and wherethieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heartwill be also.” Do you want to know where your heart really is? Look in yourcheck book, look in your credit card statements. See what you spend your moneyand time on, who and what you give your money to.  Jesus basically spends the rest of this chapter dealingwith the subject of covetousness and how to avoid this sin of idolatry that hasdestroyed so many families and lives. First, we need to realize that this sinof covetousness is something that comes from within the heart. Notice whatJesus said this certain rich man did. “He thought within himself…”.  He didn’t get his friends and neighbors aroundhim and get upon a soap box and proclaim publicly to everyone, “Look at me! I havespent my life working very hard and now am a very wealthy man.” Jesus also said this man was a fool, not because he wasrich, but because he didn’t realize the brevity of his life. The very night he thathe thought about what he would do with his wealth, he died and left his hard-earnedmoney and wealth to others, who would probably waste it. Solomon spoke aboutthis in Ecclesiastes 2:15-20. The rich man also revealed his heart by what he said. “Hethought within himself, saying…”.  You can’t help but notice all the I’s and “My’s”.“What shall I do, since I have no room to store mycrops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barnsand build greater, and there I will store all my crops and mygoods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you havemany goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and bemerry." It is obvious that his heart was all about himself and whathe wanted. This is the essence of humanism and the sin of idolatry! The truthis, it is not about making a living, it is about learning how to live. We shouldn’twonder why our children are so materialistic, when we teach them that they mustget a “good education” so that they can make a good living. And we fail toteach them to live for the eternal.  Colossians 3:1-7 is a great reminder of the importance of livingfor the eternal things of God: “If then you were raised with Christ, seekthose things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand ofGod. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.... When Christ who is our lifeappears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to deathyour members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evildesire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things thewrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselvesonce walked when you lived in them.” Idolatry is the worship of anything that gets between youand God. May God help us not to be a fool like the rich man in this story. God bless!