A RICH FOOL

'No man is rich enough to buy back his past.'
-Oscar Wilde

'Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.'
-Jesus of Nazareth (Luke 12:13-21)




In the above we have two thought provoking quotes-both speak truth and deal with something we constantly struggle with: greed. However, one assumes that it's all about money, when in fact, I think it's so much more than that-'life is not measured by how much you own'. It's pretty clear it's more than just money, it's about what we buy with our money, do with our money, and how money affects us.
People who generally have money, wish they had more money. Those who have more money tend to worry about losing money and the only people who think about more money than those with money are those without money to pay for the things we take for granted-like shelter, clothes, and food.
When Jesus began His illustration the goal was to talk about something beyond money-He used a 'hot button/ talking point' as we might call it today, to open our eyes to our foolishness and misplaced anxiety. There are some of us who are living paycheck to paycheck, just hoping we have enough to have a little extra until the next wave of bills. And there are also those of us who are one emergency away from bankruptcy-whether it's an accident or a diagnosis beyond our control. But there are also those among us who have the money and aren't very good stewards of it. *Now, that's not to say that everyone fits into one of those categories, but I think the average person struggles with one of the above mentioned, has struggled with one of the above mentioned or is delusional.
While there is some truth that money is important, it shouldn't be our only focus. If we were to seriously take a step back and ask ourselves how we got to this place-we would find out it was because of decisions we made. Perhaps some decisions seemed good at time and not much prayerful consideration was given to how it might affect the future...and others were just flat out poor. The bottom line, regardless, is that there is no one else to blame but ourselves. 
Now, it may seem that there's an inherently big contradiction in my posting-concerning how foolish it is to plan for a future...to store up your treasures here on earth when you don't know when your time will come-when your time is up and to 'prayerfully consider' how a decision that will affect your future-for better or worse. Let me assure you there isn't one. 
You see, when our focus is on us, our own abilities, what we feel we've earned and is rightfully ours-we forget that it isn't ours, and we forget that life isn't fair and that this world is often cruel and unforgiving. Why are we shocked when something bad 'catches' up on us? Usually...it's because we weren't paying attention to our future-at least not in a serious way. 
When we lose sight of God's many blessings in our lives-like health, which enables you to earn money, and in turn more money that helps you purchase a vehicle to get you to and from work, and even more money to put food in your stomach, clothes on your back, shelter for rest, and gas to fuel your vehicle. If we forget that God fuels our lives, like gas fuels a vehicle...if we neglect to pay attention to the signs-blinking fuel gauge or squeaky breaks, then it serves us right to have a wake up call in our lives. God tries to get our attention, but we choose to not listen and ignore His warnings-keep 'this up' and you'll go broke, keep 'this up' you might die, keep 'this up' and you might find yourself without a job...you fill in the blank...
You and I are richly blessed and forget that what He gives...He can also take away (Job 1:21). Don't let life 'sneak up' on you or 'catch' you off guard. Be mindful of what you have been given because you may not be here tomorrow. Work on relationships you know are suffering and remember that it first starts with you. Sometimes we're unable to see it because of our past...so stop looking to the past, it has no future, it has come and gone...what was done can't be undone.
CHALLENGE:
Take some time away. Go on a personal retreat-maybe not for a day, but at least a good chunk of the day (4-6 hours), to work through the things in your life that you know are getting in the way of true relationships. What in your past has ruined the future? Identify, those negative triggers in your life and find away back towards a path that leads you to a better life.
*The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.


Enjoy this video by Switchfoot: