{"id":23104,"date":"2025-02-10T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-monday-10-february-2025"},"modified":"2025-02-10T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T06:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-monday-10-february-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-monday-10-february-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion Monday 10 February 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Luke 12: 13 – 21<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, \u2018Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.\u2019  But he said to him, \u2018Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?\u2019  And he said to them, \u2018Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one\u2019s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.\u2019  Then he told them a parable: \u2018The land of a rich man produced abundantly.  And he thought to himself, \u201cWhat should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?\u201d Then he said, \u201cI will do this: I will pull 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; relax, eat, drink, be merry.\u201d  But God said to him, \u201cYou fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?\u201d So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a surprise. Jesus tells another of his parable stories \u2013 but this time God is given a walk-on part.<\/span><\/p>\n

The other character, who seems to be all too human, has plenty to say for himself, though apparently only to himself. He has a problem to be solved, but he\u2019s going to find the solution unaided. Talking to his neighbours might have led to a different conclusion: no doubt they\u2019d have been quick to point out to him the knock-on effects on the wider community of his grandiose building project, and his decision to hold back his abundant harvest from the open market. But since he\u2019s talking only to himself, the economic arguments have carried  all the weight.<\/span><\/p>\n

So again we note Jesus\u2019s keen insight and knowledge, not only of the ways of agribusiness, but also the ways of our human nature. We\u2019re so liable to make even our own insignificant everyday decisions on the basis of our own comfort and self-enrichment. Matters like where and how we shop and how we spend our modest wealth can have consequences way beyond our immediate circle. As for today\u2019s rich landowners and the burgeoning billionaires\u2019 clubs, they might stop to listen to Jesus\u2019s story too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because in the end, after all our self-justifying inner conversations, God has a word to say to us too. Fewer words than ours, but cutting to the heart of the matter. God, who I like to think knows each of us by name, is a bit harsh in his mode of address.  \u201cYou fool!\u201d The Psalmist reckoned that the fool says in his heart \u201cThere is no God.\u201d Which is rather the way the man in the story has been thinking and acting. Better be listening for God from the beginning, and things could turn out very differently!<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

So often I\u2019ve too much to say for myself<\/span>
and too much to say to myself.
Help me, God, to widen the conversation
and to be listening for your voice
however disconcerting and unwelcome
it may sometimes prove.  Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Luke 12: 13 – 21 Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, \u2018Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.\u2019  But he said to him, \u2018Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?\u2019  And he said to them, \u2018Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds … <\/p>\n

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