Consumed by Cravings

Listen to Solomon who put it clearly. Whoever loves money will never be satisfied with money. In other words, look around and watch what happens to people who are consumed by their cravings for more, which is, by the way, a wonderful definition of this word, covetousness. It's a dead end by craving.

It's a dead end. Look around at people who are on this dead-end street who never reach satisfaction. Where do you look for satisfaction? Can you find it in the blessings you've received and the fellowship you have with the Lord? Or, do you find yourself looking longingly at the blessings and gifts of others? Jesus often contrasted satisfaction with covetousness because he knew that covetous people can never be satisfied.

They never have enough. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Today you'll learn from Jesus that riches are a test to determine where true satisfaction comes from. It's always interesting to discover how someone views you and how different that may be from how you view yourself. I know at a certain age we just sort of lock in and we stay that age in our minds. Children and grandchildren have a way of popping that bubble. I remember many years ago, in fact, when our children were younger, we were playing a game. I don't remember what the game was, but when it came my turn, one of my daughters wanted to change the rules to make it easier on me.

God bless her for that. But I asked her, why? And she said, well, because you're so old. Just the other day, one of our grandsons had his birthday and I asked him later on in the day, well, how old are you? And he proudly said, I'm four. And I said, well, how old do you think I am? And he, without any hesitation, said, well, you're really, really, really, really, really old.

So I put him in time out. He did his heart right. You probably have heard bits and pieces of the true account of Alfred Nobel, who came to the realization that what people thought of him was different than how he perceived himself. If you go back to 1888, he was a Swedish chemist who had already made a fortune with his discoveries and applications of nitroglycerin and his invention of dynamite. He owned the patents for dynamite.

He produced it, became immensely wealthy. His brother that year, who lived in France, died unexpectedly. And Alfred was sent his brother's obituary, but the French newspapers had confused the two brothers and had written an obituary for Alfred.

In fact, the headline of the French newspaper read, the merchant of death is dead. And then in his obituary, which you would want it to be somewhat flattering, included the words, he will be remembered for creating the potential for mass destruction. He was shaken by that. And he resolved to change his legacy. In fact, he immediately attributed his wealth to develop a trust. He had $9 million at that time.

In today's economy, that would be $289 million. And he went to work establishing international awards for people who worked to benefit mankind, most notably global peace. He died eight years later. But his plan worked, didn't it?

Because whenever you hear the name Alfred Nobel, you think of the Nobel Peace Prize. You don't think of dynamite or mass destruction. In one of the Lord's parables, he introduced a man who received from God his obituary a few hours before he died. It was far different than what he would have expected. He didn't have any time to change anything.

He would be dead in a few hours. But he didn't want to change anything anyway. He was satisfied with himself. He was considered by his community upright, upstanding, successful, hardworking. He made an honest living as a businessman.

There was not one single smudge on his reputation. But then God showed up and had an entirely different perspective. So let's go find out what happened. We're in Luke, chapter 12, where the Lord is speaking to a massive crowd and warns them, and warns us, by the way, in every generation, with a rather startling observation. We're in verse 13, where we left off, Luke, chapter 12. Someone in the crowd said to him, he evidently paused, and there was an opportunity to be interrupted, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But he said to him, man, you translate that friend or my good man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you.

Now let's stop and understand a little bit here. It was typical for rabbis in this generation to be sought out as mediators of the Mosaic law. In fact, a Jew wouldn't want to go to a Gentile court, so they would seek out these teachers, these experts in law. Inheritance laws were a pretty big deal because it would pretty much affect everybody.

But this isn't the mission of Jesus, and he makes that very clear. He's not setting up shop, he's not swinging a shingle out there to handle disputes over the laws of inheritance. But this particular inheritance here had reached a boiling point, and there was a lot of heat behind this demand. Well, we know from Jewish law that the firstborn received twice the inheritance as birthright than any younger siblings. The older brother would be responsible to care for the mother if she were still living, and unmarried sisters in the household as well.

Quite frankly, that's a key to understanding this double portion. It didn't mean that the oldest brother was twice as special. It meant he had twice the responsibility now. One thing is certain from the Lord's response, both brothers are embroiled in this inheritance dispute.

In fact, when Jesus said, who made me judge or arbitrator over you, the you is plural. His older brother might have been standing there. They're both at odds in something that has now grown ugly. The younger brother wants more than he has, and the older brother wants to keep what he has. If you take a closer look at verse 13, by the way, you realize that this younger brother isn't really asking Jesus what to do. He's telling Jesus what to do. He's not even asking Jesus to mediate. He says, here's the verdict that do it. Drop the hammer on my older brother.

Make him pay out what I've got coming. Jesus refuses here. Now he's going to respond in a more general fashion, them now, including them being plural now, including the crowd. If you go back to verse one, you remember there are literally thousands of people jamming every street, every alleyway to hear what Jesus has to say.

I'm sure now they're all kind of leaning in a little closer because they all want to know how he's going to arbitrate this inheritance brouhaha. But instead of expounding on the finer points of inheritance law, Jesus goes deeper. Verse 15, Jesus said to them, take care and be on your guard against covetousness. Wait, I thought we were talking about inheritance. Jesus says that's not the issue.

Really. Take care and be on your guard against greed is how you could translate it. By the way, the Greek expression for take care means to be perceptive. Open your eyes. Use your powers of observation is what the Lord is saying. In other words, look around and watch what happens to people who are consumed by their cravings for more, which is, by the way, a wonderful definition of this word covetousness. And by craving, it's a dead end. Look around at people who are on this dead end street who never reach satisfaction.

Listen to Solomon who put it clearly. Whoever loves money will never be satisfied with money, even if it's more, is his point. Whoever desires wealth is never satisfied with his income. Now, don't miss the point.

Money and wealth are not the problem. It is the love of it. It is the pursuit of it. It is the desire for more of it.

If I just had more, I'd be satisfied. Jesus says, look around. Is that what you're discovering?

Use your powers of observation. Look at people who've been traveling down that road, especially those who are now older, who turn around and tell you they've been chasing what they've never found. Now, Jesus adds a double warning, which I think is interesting here. Again, verse 15, take care. That's all he really had to say. But then he goes on and he adds, can't be on your guard. That means stay alert.

Post a guard over your heart, your mind, your perspective, your purpose, your passion, and never let that guard go off duty. Then he gives this wonderful principle that ought to govern our thinking. Verse 15, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. In other words, really living. I mean living life worth living has absolutely nothing to do with what you possess. That's why you've met people who have much less than you and they're happy.

That's why you've met people who have more than you who are not happy, because it doesn't matter in the abundance of one's perspective related to his possessions. This is running counter, of course, to Jesus's generation and ours. It runs counter to our fallen nature. In fact, even before Eve fell, it's interesting to me that this was the temptation. Satan effectively comes along in the garden and says, don't be satisfied with what you have, with where you are, with what you know. Don't be satisfied. Eve, don't you want more?

I can give you more. She wanted more. Jesus says, you better stay on the alert, post a guard, your fallen, sinful, selfish nature and the fallen world around you is going to conspire together to take you down that dead end street where you're going to be consumed by your craving for more. The word Jesus uses here in verse 15 for covetousness is translated elsewhere as greed. And I find it interesting that he would use that as an application to the inheritance.

This man rightfully had coming. Jesus pointed to the issue of the heart, which can blind us in life. I mean, think about it.

I thought about it. Here's this young man. Imagine having one opportunity to talk to Jesus. There are thousands of people packed around him. Somehow he's close.

He's close enough. He sees Jesus pause at the end of a discourse before he perhaps is going to begin another one. And he interrupts him. And this is the one thing he says to Jesus.

I wonder if he thought about it later. I could have talked to him about a lot of things, but this was the one thing. I said to him, Jesus, there's something I want. You get it for me.

We would never do that. Lord, there's something I want more than you've given me. I want you to get it for me. Jesus cuts to the heart and he says, no, you've just got an insatiable thirst for more. Now what the Lord does, because he's a master teacher, is he takes this opportunity here to tell a story. It's a story he makes up.

We call it a parable. He tells a parable here to this crowd. In fact, he describes a man.

And don't miss this context. He describes a man that this younger man wants to become. And he's going to show them the dead end it will become. Look at verse 16. And he told them a parable saying, the land of a rich man produced plentifully.

And he thought to himself, what shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. Now understand again, this is earnest gain. In the ancient world, grain in the barn was as good as money in the bank. In fact, keep in mind that the Lord describes him here as a man who's going to be bringing in a bumper crop.

He's earned it. This bumper crop would have been considered by his world, his Jewish world, the approval of God. He's evidently following in his heart and life the covenant of responsibilities which now return to him the covenant blessings. In fact, the Pharisees were teaching during the days of Jesus. While this event is taking place, so to speak, this and I quote them, whom the Lord loves, he makes rich.

That's as popular today as it was back then. God loves you. Well, bumper crops are on the way. And this is evidence of divine approval. In fact, the Lord even implies as much here in verse 16 where he says specifically the land of a rich man produced plentifully.

In other words, the rich man really didn't do it. God did. He built into the ecosystems the ability for this man to have this bumper crop. God did it.

He said just the right amount of sun, just the right amount of rain on this man's land. There had been no blight that year. There had been no pestilence.

No locusts decided to stay overnight. This is going to be an incredible yield. And understand that in everyone's eyes, in this man's world, they would have been led to believe that he deserved now even greater respect and greater adulation.

They didn't realize that he was in greater danger than ever before. Verse 17. And he thought to himself, in light of this yield he's going to experience, what shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops.

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. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years now.

Relax. Eat, drink, be merry. That is the mantra of hedonism. It is the indication of unbelief. I can now live my life for me and depend entirely upon me.

And I can enjoy all of the pleasures of life, whatever they may be. Again, the problem is not his surplus. The problem is his spirit. I want you to notice that in his conversation with himself, there's no reference whatever to God. No reference to God's hand. There's no prayer of thanksgiving. There's no plan to offer first fruit offering to God.

No mention of helping anybody else. Just six times you could circle them. I, I, I, I, I, I. Five times my, my crops, my barns, my grain, my goods, even my soul. Really, God never entered his thoughts. And now God comes to him and says, I have written your obituary.

I'm going to, I'm going to let you see it, but you've only got a few hours anyway. And I know you don't want to change anything. Verse 20. But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of you.

In other words, it belongs to me. I am the God of eternity. And I've written your obituary.

Let me show it to you. Everybody thinks you're blessed and you're honored and you're wise. Here's the truth. You're a fool.

Man, that's harsh words. You're a fool. And keep in mind in the Bible, being a fool has nothing to do with stupidity.

It has everything to do with spirituality. A fool in the Bible is not someone who is senseless, it is someone who is godless. Remember when David wrote it in Psalm 53, verse 1? The fool has said in his heart, say it with me, there is no God. He says in his heart, because he's not going to say it out loud. He has a secret conversation with his soul where the truth is known. He doesn't care anything about God, really.

Jesus uses the same word for fool here in the text that the Septuagint used in that Old Testament text. He isn't saying anything out loud, but he's talking to his soul. He's having this inner conversation.

You'll miss it here in this context. He's the man this younger brother wants to become. A rich man with more than he can handle, or at least more, period. He's going to be applauded and respected and revered. He's diligent. He's blessed. God comes along and says, no, you're a fool. In fact, while you're lying on your bed, thinking of all you'll have tomorrow, you're going to be dead tonight.

William Barkley wrote that the tragedy of this man's life was that he never saw beyond himself, and he never saw beyond this world. But notice the end of verse 20, everything that he had collected now, not just grain, you might have noticed his goods as well. And the things which you have prepared, that is, all that you've collected, all that you've got coming in now in this yield, whose will they be? Who gets this rich man's money and possessions? Who gets his stuff? Jesus brilliantly goes back to the original question. He ties it together now, and here's the subject. The younger brother is angry with his older brother over his inheritance.

Maybe Jesus even looked at this younger brother when he said this. Where will this rich man's wealth end up? Obvious answer, to his heirs. It'll be the inheritance, as if to imply, and they're going to fight over it too. They might laugh over it that you're gone, now it's ours, or hey, wait, give me more of that.

And the question is sort of left open, whose will it be? Which means, essentially, nobody's going to be satisfied with what they get. Is that what you want?

Here's what it looks like. Jesus applies it to everybody now. Verse 21, so is the one who lays up treasure for himself. In other words, whoever lives for themselves ends up just like all the characters in this drama. The heirs of this rich farmer who won't be satisfied, the rich farmer who wasn't satisfied, the younger brother who wasn't satisfied, and the older brother who wasn't satisfied. And that's because covetousness is never satisfied.

It is a craving for more, and those who go down this road end up being consumed with dissatisfaction over their cravings. Now Jesus makes one final comment here in verse 21. So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward ice. You could translate that in God. What does it mean to be rich in God? Well, it means to be rich in those things that God gives, priceless things. Peace, joy, purpose, daily mercy, salvation, pardon, communion with Christ, a shepherd, the Spirit of God who indwells us and then gifts us to serve others, heaven. These are priceless gifts and to live with those things in mind, to allow those to be our perspective and our pursuit and our passion is to be rich in God. In his convicting little book that I pulled out again in light of this study called The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn writes this, five minutes after we die, we will know exactly how we wish to have lived. But God has given us his word so that we don't have to wait to die to find out. And he's given us his Spirit to empower us to live that way now. So ask yourself this question, five minutes after I die, what will I wish I had given away while I had the chance? When you come up with the answer, give it away. What will you wish you had done to please the Lord?

As soon as you get the answer, do it. Well said. Beloved, let's not spend our lives like the characters in this passage who are all craving for more and more and more. Let's not pursue the things of earth that we cannot keep. Let's pursue the things of God we will never lose. This is Wisdom for the Heart, the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey. Stephen is the president of Wisdom International. I'm glad you were with us today.

We're not in the office today because our staff is celebrating the holiday with their family and friends. However, if you'd like to communicate with us by email, we'll get back with you tomorrow. Our email address is info at wisdomonline.org. You can also use that address if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian faith. Stephen answers questions that come in and posts his reply to our website. So write to us at info at wisdomonline.org and then join us next time to discover more Wisdom for the Hearts.