“He then told them a parable: ‘The land of a certain rich man produced an abundant crop, so he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to myself, ‘You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”’ But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, but is not rich toward God.” —Luke 12:16–21
The Oxford Dictionary defines “hoard” as accumulating more than one’s current requirements. God addressed this issue early on in the Old Testament when He gave instructions to the Israelites regarding manna from heaven. We find in Exodus:
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them. Will they walk in my law or not? On the sixth day they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather every other day.’” —Exodus 16:4–5
A few verses later we read:
“When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ because they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread that the LORD has given you for food. This is what the LORD has commanded: “Each person is to gather from it what he can eat, an omer per person according to the number of your people; each one will pick it up for whoever lives in his tent.”’ The Israelites did so, and they gathered—some more, some less. When they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat. Moses said to them, ‘No one is to keep any of it until morning.’ But they did not listen to Moses; some kept part of it until morning, and it was full of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them.” —Exodus 16:15–20
While saving is prudent and commendable, hoarding is greedy and selfish. It reveals an attitude that lacks faith in a God who always supplies our needs. It points to the fact that we somehow believe we are responsible for our lives—taking God out of the equation. Just like the Israelites, our hoarding produces maggots and begins to smell.
We are told by Paul:
“Now with godliness combined with contentment brings great profit. For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either. But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that. Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.” —1 Timothy 6:6–1
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content in any circumstance. I have experienced times of need and times of abundance. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment, whether I go satisfied or hungry, have plenty or nothing. I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me.” —Philippians 4:11–13
The secret of Paul’s contentment was the power of Christ within him, giving him strength and peace. Contented people do not live excessively. They are not always searching for more and more. They understand when enough is enough. There is a great deal of freedom and insight to be gained from this. We have been sold the idea that accumulation brings contentment. Oftentimes, quite the opposite is true! Are your possessions possessing you? Possessions are supposed to bring us joy, but they can end up consuming our time, talents, resources, and abilities! I am sure that is one reason we are told in Proverbs:
“Remove falsehood and lies far from me; do not give me poverty or riches, feed me with my allotted portion of bread, lest I become satisfied and act deceptively and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or lest I become poor and steal and demean the name of my God.” —Proverbs 30:8–9
Become More
God desires for us to give freely and cheerfully, sharing with those who are in need and practicing hospitality. When we are on the receiving end, we are in turn to pass on the blessing to others. Luke tells us:
“Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.” —Luke 6:38
Further Reflections
Contentment is a learned secret. Sacrifice and self-control are beautiful graces.
“It is another one of those ‘immutable laws of the universe’ where sharing, caring and giving trumps self-centered, narcissistic and selfish every time.” —thinktq.com