Psalm 91:16, says, “You will be satisfied with a full life and with all that I do for you. For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation!” (TPT)
In continuation with our study on Psalm 91, let us turn our attention to verse 16. This is the Lord’s promise to the one who makes the Lord his refuge, the Lord will satisfy such a person with a full life and they will also enjoy the abundance of God’s salvation.
For our meditation I wish to focus on the word ‘satisfy’. If we look around us, there are many discontented people who are not satisfied with what they have. They are not content with the money, clothes, house or anything else they possess, but are constantly craving for more. There are those who have every material thing that one can imagine in their home, but sadly have no peace, which is a pathetic state to be in.
The reasons for dissatisfaction
• Greed
When a person is obsessed with a constant desire to acquire more material things, they will soon be overtaken by greed.
Here’s what Jesus said in, Luke 12:15, “Speaking to the people, Jesus continued, “Be alert and guard your heart from greed and always wishing for what you don’t have. For your life can never be measured by the amount of things you possess.” (TPT)
The caution that Jesus gives is that we need to guard our hearts against greed. These warnings are meant to keep us safe and protect us from impending danger. Jesus clearly exhorts us to not get entangled in this trap of materialism. There are a myriad ways in which we are tempted to be more materialistic every day.
Just take the newspaper in the morning, and out of it will fall flyers with attractive advertisements and schemes to purchase something new. If we open the newspaper every page is full of advertisements and offers that are so tempting. In my younger days I recall that these advertisements were small and inconspicuous. Things have changed so much that we will sometimes find the front cover with an elaborate advertisement. Therefore, for the common man, there is a constant enticement to have and possess more than we need.Sometimes the advertisement also has aset deadline, thereby pressurizing us to buy the item immediately. If we are not watchful, these are easy traps set for us. We will keep buying more and more things, and our houses will be filled with stuff that we don’t really need.
Jesus went on further to say that a man’s life cannot be measured by the abundance of things he possesses, because the fact of the matter is that one cannot add a single hour to one’s life. We should therefore pray and ask God to give us a heart that is content. Discontentment has put many families in much trouble. The pleasure that materialism gives to one is only temporary. There will always be a something better that will come up frequently, and the desire will be to try and acquire the better thing.
The Parable of the Rich Fool
• A wealthy man who didn’t know what to do with his possessions
To explain this more clearly Jesus told a parable. We read in Luke 12:16-17, Jesus then gave them this illustration: “A wealthy land owner had a farm that produced bumper crops. In fact, it filled his barns to overflowing!He thought, ‘What should I do now that every barn is full and I have nowhere else to store more? (TPT)
Here was a man who was really wealthy who had a farm that produced bountifully. Isn’t it strange that the question that bothered him was, ‘What should I do?’ which is something that we would expect to be the cry of a poor man who does not know where his next meal will come from?Though he had everything, he was anxious that he did not have place to store his excess produce.
• He plans next steps
Generally when wealth increases, the thought that fills one’s mind is what we should do with all the money that one has. This is when one comes into the planning stage.
We read in Luke 12:18, “I know what I’ll do! I’ll tear down the barns and build one massive barn that will hold all my grain and goods.” (TPT)
Now his plan was to tear down the old barns and build massive new ones so he can save up more. Think about all that he had to plan in order to get this work done. He would have to save the grains that were in the old barns, find someone to build new ones so he can store everything that his fields had produced. As long as discontentment was there, he would never be satisfied and would constantly crave for more and more.
You might have observed some who are regularly buying new clothes. After a while they have so many clothes that they have to purchase a new closet. Here’s a reminder that those of us who receive from the Lord, must also learn to give to those around us who are in need. Instead of increasing our giving, if we keep on increase our standard of living, we are no better than this rich man Jesus mentioned in the parable.
There are others who are crazy about their mobile phones and have a constant desire to changing it every year. Once the thought sets in to have the mobile phones changed, they will begin to cite many reasons why they are in need of an updated version. Though they are aware that this is not a necessity and their conscience bothers them, they come up with many reasons to justify their purchase. There is never a limit to this avarice, as we will have found that every few months there will be a better model that is being manufactured. As children of God we must be cautious to buy things only because we need them, and not allow ourselves to be swamped by materialism.
• He did not acknowledge God or think of others
The rich man had a tremendous produce, but the reason for this was that God granted sunshine and rain in due season. Instead of thinking about it,this rich man had no room for God and did not even recognize the mercies of God in his life, one of which was his life itself. He was also so selfish that he could think of no one but himself.
First and foremost when we are blessed abundantly, we must acknowledge that God is the giver of all good things. We must always realize that we would be nothing without God in our lives.
We read in 2 Corinthians 9:10, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” (ESV)
It is the Lord who give seed to the sower and bread for our daily food. If we do not endorse this we would be doing ourselves a huge disfavor. Our labor is only secondary, but we must first acknowledge and honor God for all that we receive from His hands.
Listen to the words of wise man King Solomon as found in Proverbs 3:9,“Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;”(ESV)
We are called to honor God with all that we possess and the first fruits of all of our produces. Heaven is God’s throne and the earth is His footstool, but when we give to the Lord, it is our little way of honoring Him for all that He has done for us. If we can learn to honor God this way, we will be surprised to find that God will bless us even more. Our hands will be blessed to not only receive from God, but also be those that will give to others cheerfully.
Let us look again at Luke 12:18,“I know what I’ll do! I’ll tear down the barns and build one massive barn that will hold all my grain and goods.” (TPT)
Observe the words of this rich man and the number of times he mentions I and me. Basically he was boasting that all this was his achievements and that he had done it all by his own efforts. There is no place for God or a thought about anyone else. Just think about how many poor and needy people would have been around him. He had no heart or compassion to pause and think about anybody else.
It is good for us to analyze and see how much we think about the needs of others and step in to help them. It is dangerous to be constantly thinking of ourselves, giving no thought for the poor and needy who are around us. If that is the case we can be sure that we too are consumed by materialism.
This is what the word of God says in Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.” (ESV)
Many people don’t give to those in need because they think that they cannot pay back and so they will get nothing in return. Listen to the promise of God in the above mentioned verse. When we give generously to those who are poor, the Lord says that though they cannot repay, God himself will do so. God considers our giving as a loan made unto Him.
When shopping in huge malls we would have noticed how people are willing to pay by cash or card any amount that is mentioned on the bill. Yet, those very same people will bargain with a small vendor who has his shop on the pavement. This kind of a mindset must change and we must constantly remind ourselves that those who lend to the poor, give to the Lord, and that the Lord Himself will repay them manifold.
• He mixed up the temporary with the eternal
Listen to the dialogue this rich man had with himself. We read in Luke 12:19,And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ (ESV)
Here’s a soliloquy of this rich man to his own soul. He pampers his soul with the thought that there was no need to worry as the future was fully secured. He had saved and stored enough to last a life time and so he could relax, eat, drink, make merry and enjoy his life. Isn’t this an amazing thought that this rich man was speaking to his soul, but the thing he talked about was only to do with his temporal body.
Many people live with this kind of confusion even today. They have the faulty understanding that if they have all the wealth, food, clothes and material things pertaining to this life that their soul is also taken care of. Everything we possess in this life is temporary, and will one day be destroyed, and moreover our body too will go to the dust. Have you realized that the name we are given is truly given to our soul and not to our body? What’s seen outside is just a temporal body and the thing that separates our soul from our body is death. This is the reason why when a person is dead, they never refer to them by name, but refer to them as a corpse. Strangely though, many have no time to think about this unchangeable fact. Many are under the erroneous impression that they will live on for hundreds of years here on earth and give no thought whatsoever for eternity.
• God called him a fool
Just look at the way God referred to this man. We read in Luke 12:20,“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’”(ESV)
God used a strong word to describe him, when He called him a fool. He was a fool because he could not decipher what was temporary, and what was eternal. All the things of the earth that we possess will remain here only and nothing can be taken with us when we die. That is why God called him a fool for he made plans all of which were earthly, with no thought about his soul. That very night his soul was required of him and God had to remind him that all of his hard labor and wealth he had hoarded, he would have to leave behind, not knowing who will enjoy all of it. Sadly, this rich man spent all of his time on things pertaining to this worldly life and had no time to ponder about the destination of his soul.
The day self takes over and we are consumed by no one but ourselves, God would refer to us as fools too. Our bodies will go to ground and become dust, but our souls are destined for eternity. Let us ask God to give us a heart of contentment and satisfaction. Thank God for everything that we have received and are enjoying. Our health, food, clothes, education, family and we will surely develop an attitude of gratitude and be content with all we have. No amount of advertisements can then allure us or make us covet for more. God will call us wise, instead of being called fools
• Invest for eternity
See the concluding words of Jesus in Luke 12:21,“So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (ESV)
To be rich toward God means to invest in those places where God wants us to invest in. Giving to the poor the needy is the best investment anyone can make while here on earth. Though they may not be able to pay us back, we have by so doing laid up for ourselves eternal treasures in heaven. God will reward us one day for all of these generous deed. Let us therefore spend wisely, and also pray earnestly that the Lord give us a heart of contentment and satisfaction.
Pastor F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by Sis. Esther Collins
