Scripture Union Daily Discovery 20th October 2020 Today Devotional
TODAY’S TOPIC: YOU FOOL!
Opening Prayer: Jesus, what is it that truly gives me energy, hope, and security in this life? Is it You? Be my everything.
Read Luke 12:13–21 The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
Today Scripture Union Daily Discovery 20th October 2020
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
New International Version (NIV)
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Reflect: Scripture Union Daily Discovery 20th October 2020
Jesus states forcibly that where our heart is, there also is our treasure (Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34). Where is your heart today?
At the time of writing, two stories about money are making the headlines. Both are about billionaires. One is about a young woman who is about to join that exclusive club but is a few hundred million dollars short. Thus, her friends are crowdfunding to help her reach her goal. The other is about an extremely wealthy man who feels that he is being demeaned when others call him a billionaire. He feels he is worth more than this. Two situations where the money is never enough.
Jesus here tells a story of an extremely wealthy man, but its application is for everyone. We would call this landowner a hoarder: someone who amasses his wealth because it comforts him to do so. And then the crisis of mortality strikes, and his money is of no help. Is the parable anti-wealth? Is it about death as a kind of punishment? The scholar Klyne R. Snodgrass says that it’s “a brief but poignant demonstration that life is not about plans for our own security and that satisfaction from possessions is an illusion.”
Apply: What gives you security? Do you trust God with your relationships, finances and career goals? Or have those things become idols in which you place your trust?
Closing Prayer: God, it is so tempting to put my trust in what I can see and touch. Help me to put my trust in the only One who is truly trustworthy.
THROUGH THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
Jeremiah 34, 35; John 12
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