Today’s 333 Devotional: “Making the Smart Investment”

We live in a society that is pulverized under the weight of wrong priorities, crushed by debt, and pinned under a mountain of materialism. And what happens is that all this stuff blocks our vision of reality and causes us to miss out on the life God has so graciously given to us.

Such was the case with one man who interrupted Jesus as He was talking about hypocrisy, about how much God cares and values each of us, and how we need to make an open confession of Him before others.

But this man wasn’t there to listen to Jesus’s wisdom, but rather He wanted Jesus’s help in the matter of inheritance.

He cried out, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” (Luke 12:13)

This guy wasn’t interested in the truth Jesus was sharing. He wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention; instead, he was consumed with his own person financial condition.

But why come to Jesus with this request? The answer is found in Jesus’s designation as a teacher or Rabbi. Rabbis were knowledgeable of the Law, and as such they were expected to investigate such matters and were considered qualified to judge ethical matters among the people. And so, this man was appealing to Jesus’s authority and knowledge of the Law to force his brother to comply.

But Jesus responded, “‘Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?’ 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.’” (Luke 1:14-15)

In saying that, Jesus recused Himself from judging between the two, instead He chose to get down to the heart of the matter, or the root cause of this man’s problem. You see, this man was preoccupied with the wrong thing because his desire and request were greed based.

Jesus then goes on to establish his point through “The Parable of the Rich Fool.”