How to Be Rich Towards God
Oh how abundant is your GOODNESS which you have stored up for those who fear you, and worked for those who take refuge in you.
Psalm 31:19.
I love my sweet little girl, but she is a collector. The tiniest little toys end up in her various pouches, purses, and boxes. From Shopkins, to Barbie shoes, to legos….she puts them all away to save. {Save for what I have yet to figure out….} Sometimes she will carry them with her and sneaks them into church. One night I look over to the seat beside me and see this:
Storing up her treasures is something she loves to do….but don’t we all? We might all not collect Barbie shoes, tarnished rings, or small pieces of legos….but we collect something. We might save, keep, and treasure more than we are aware….
The story in the New Testament about the rich man always intrigued me. Jesus tells the story of a man who spent his entire life acquiring wealth. So much so, he had to build bigger barns to store all of it. One night he sat back and decided to live life to the fullest. “Now,” he said, “I can eat, drink, and be merry.” God called him a fool, for that night the man died. According to Jesus, the man failed to be “rich towards God.” He was storing up the wrong things. If my prideful heart was honest, I never felt like I needed to protect myself from storing up wealth on earth. I knew riches couldn’t provide happiness.
Rich in God. I wondered….what does that mean? I had written in the margins of my Bible: “Rich in God means loving God and people.” The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. So I asked myself: Do I live my life storing up treasures from heaven, being rich in God, or do I still seek to be rich of this world?
Tweet ThisDo I take pride in the clothes I have? What about how well behaved (or not well-behaved) my children are? Have I began to collect things I love? Do I strive to love God with all of my heart, soul, and mind? If I’m honest…..no.
I seek relationships as treasures.
I find some of my fulfillment in the Amazon boxes arriving on my doorstep.
The clothes in my closet.
The numbers of my blog.
How well my children behave.
If I am serving enough at church.
I am storing up all of the wrong things. I am storing up the things I will not have in eternity. God’s Word and people are the only things to live forever, so I’m fooling myself to think anything else I gain in this world really matters.
In the end, it matters what I’ve done with God, not what I’ve earned for Him. God isn’t looking for a person with a perfect checklist. Instead, He is looking for a devoted heart. Don’t get me wrong, if you are completely devoted to God you will obey (I John 5:2).
God is storing up something for us as well! Goodness. It says in Psalm 31:19 God doesn’t just store up goodness for everyone….but for the ones who trust Him. I love this Psalm because instead of saying: Be good and God will be good to you. The Psalmist says: Trust God and God will be good to you. I’m not saying God will promise to keep you safe, or give you wealth and power if you trust Him. But from my humble experience, the times I’ve trusted God, I’ve seen His goodness shine.
Be comforted friend, for when you take refuge in God, storing up the treasures in Heaven, you will see His goodness every single day. The glorious is made evident in our ordinary when we focus our eyes on God.
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