Paying Attention to How We Live
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Intro....
Intro....
In our day in and day out life, I believe we tend to take time to pay attention to what we do and say. We are careful with how we live and act, Why? Because we are concerned with doing right, we want to make sure we a way that is pleasing to God.
And that is a correct attitude in front of God. Not arrogant or puffed up, but to ensure that we are humble and right in front of a righteous King.
So this evening I am going to draw from several sources to help explain this thought even more… so lets take our Bibles and lets go to the New Testament book of Luke and lets look at chapter 12, verses 16-21
Luke
16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 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?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
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So here in this passage Jesus begins to tell them a parable. A parable is a earthly story with a heavenly meaning...
And in this passage there is a man who decides to build bigger and better because he has experienced such a windfall of crop production in the year. Harvest is wonderful…
Listen to what this man says right off the bat.... He asks the question, looking to self.. “....what shall I do...” in verse 17.
He has been so wonderfully blessed and his thought is, what shall I do… He doesn think how wonderful and he certainly doesn’t life his eyes to heaven and give thanks to God for all that has been given to him… No not at all....
There is no careful thought to his life or days… instead he is worried about what to do and his solution, self again. I will store it all up and I will say to my soul, eat drink and be marry, for you have done well… there is no need to worry about tomorrow.
Wow… What do you think about His attitude? Not a great one!
It is truly an example of what not to do.. correct?
Why?
His desire is to better serve self not those around Himself in need. Think about the truth that we have the power and the means to bless those who are our neighbors, but often we stay to ourselves, we don’t want to say anything or get involved.
When perhaps the Lord has placed us there for that very reason....
So back to the parable, the man has a investment portfolio idea… build bigger and better so that I can enjoy and be blessed the rest of my life… I will live a long time and I have no need to worry now…
But listen to the word of God.
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?’
Luke 12:20
This very night your life will end, and who will end up enjoying, living off of all your hard work....
He is foolish, there was no time to amend His ways.
Wow, listen to this… how often do you say… ahh, I’ll do it tomorrow. Talking to self here. You get a little tired, a little to busy in something and then you put off… at times it cannot be helped. But there are times we think we have all the time in the world so tomorrow will be ok...
There in is the foolish thought… We understand we will be found wanting in the balances..
Let me share what Paul says in
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Paul reminds us that we must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of our lives before God.
27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
Matthew 16
Because of this We must, then, pay attention to how we live.
One day we’ll give an account of ourselves to the Lord (). We must, then, pay attention to how we live.
Think of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man made his choices concerning himself without any thought toward anyone else, even those in great need just beyond his own doorstep.
Turn there with me , verse 19-31
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
So think about this...
he made many mistakes as he lived in front of God and in front of His fellow men..
First, he invested everything for himself and nothing for the life to come.
He had everything he every wanted, find food, a place to live, and clothing,
When we are blinded by our own desires and personal satisfaction, it is easy to become lukewarm about spiritual matters.
We forget that this life is not all there is. Scripture tells us to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth. Where our treasure is reflects where our heart is
().
The rich man in made the tragic choice of living for himself without regard for the Lord. He also made two other mistakes.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
What are some treasures you can lay up in heaven?
Secondly…
First, he invested everything for himself and nothing for the life to come. When we are blinded by our own desires and personal satisfaction, it is easy to become lukewarm about spiritual matters. We forget that this life is not all there is. Scripture tells us to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth. Where our treasure is reflects where our heart is ().
The rich man’s other mistake was to prepare everything for himself and nothing for others.
The rich man’s other mistake was to prepare everything for himself and nothing for others. Crumbs falling from his table (v. 21) were the only form of assistance he gave a poor man named Lazarus. The one who had much wealth did not share it with the one who had little. Jesus explained what our priorities should be to love the Lord wholeheartedly and to love our neighbor as ourselves ().
Crumbs falling from his table (v. 21) were the only form of assistance he gave a poor man named Lazarus. The one who had much wealth did not share it with the one who had little.
Jesus explained what our priorities should be to love the Lord wholeheartedly and to love our neighbor as ourselves ().
27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
We see the rich man’s mistakes repeated in another parable. This time a wealthy man builds bigger barns to store crops so he will have plenty for the future.
We see the rich man’s mistakes repeated in another parable. This time a wealthy man builds bigger barns to store crops so he will have plenty for the future. God calls him a fool for such shortsightedness ().
God calls him a fool for such shortsightedness ().
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?’
The Bible repeatedly warns us to pay attention to spiritual matters—the Lord is to have first place in our lives and be the center of our affections.
He urges us to store up heavenly treasure by caring for the lost and hurting people around us.
On whom is your attention focused?