There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due,
and yet it results only in want.

Proverbs 11:24

Jesus tells a poignant parable in Luke 12:13-21 that puts in living color what happens to the greedy miser who hoards all that God has given. It is the story of a man who was blessed so abundantly by God that the barns he possessed could not hold it all. Sadly, instead of sharing or scattering the excess of what God provided, this man hoarded his riches and simply built bigger barns for himself. 

Jesus warns his listeners at the front end of this story.

Then He [Jesus] said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.

Luke 12:15 [mine]

At first glance, this proverb and this parable seem to be all about money and possessions. And its application is surely that. But look closer and remember. Proverbs 11 does discuss money and possessions thoroughly, but the foundation of the chapter is not to imply that having wealth is wrong. The foundation of the chapter is living in truth, living justly, living blamelessly, living in integrity. Whether we are rich or poor, our lives must be marked with these Truth Primer foundations and not just in matters of money and our physical assets. 

Notice Jesus’ warning in Luke…against every form of greed… There are lots of ways we show off our greedy selves; not sharing the popcorn in a movie theater, not giving up our seat on a crowded bus, not shutting our mouths so someone else can share their perspective, not forgiving and letting go past wrongs so a relationship can be restored. These and many other attitudes and actions speak volumes about the “greed in every form” that takes up residence within each of us. 

We often do not see this greed because we lie to ourselves and try to justify the ugly attitudes and the damaging actions that we let lose upon our circle of influence. In the Luke 12 parable, the rich man was involved in a very deep and convincing conversation with himself. We call it self-talk and the inference is that this self-talk continued for a long time. It was not an overnight job to tear down small barns and build new bigger ones. God let him build the bigger barns. Why? I think it was His grace. God was giving this rich man time to reconsider his sinful greedy soul and repent. But the man continued in his self-destructive self-talk. Eventually the daily lies he told himself, and maybe he told others, blocked out any interference of God’s grace and God’s extension of time.

Little did he know that his day of reckoning once very close. 

It wasn’t the money and full barns that made this man greedy. It was his greed that mismanaged and misdirected his God-given abundance. In our key verse, ‘withholding what is justly due’ is not just a one time; “I think I will eat this whole carton of ice cream myself.” The language is such that it is a continual withholding; and continual ignoring of what justice demands. It is a foundation of greed the permeates all this person thinks and does.

There is a day of reckoning! A day when we will bow to The Truth and all the lies we spread to ourselves and to others, will be laid bare. Christ died to pay the debt of those lies; to pay the debt we could not pay and that He did not owe. Have you accepted His payment? Will the account you give of yourself to God be washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ? Or will you face the IAM alone and without excuse? 

Romans 14:11-12

For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So, then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

I pray we can each sing this song written in 1977 by Ellis Crum

He paid a debt He did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay
I needed someone to wash my sins away
And now I sing a brand new song
Amazing Grace
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay

My debt He paid upon the cross
He cleansed my soul from all its dross
I tho’t that no one could all my sins erase
But now I sing a brand new song
Amazing Grace
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay

O such great pain my Lord endured
When He my sinful soul secured
I should have died there but Jesus took my place
So now I sing a brand new song
Amazing Grace
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay

He didn’t give to me a loan
He gave Himself now He’s my own
He’s gone to Heaven to make for me a place
And now I sing a brand new song
Amazing Grace
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay