Luke
12:13-21 Parable of the rich man who decides to build new barns. This is a
straightforward story to illuminate His admonition in Luke 12:15: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed;
for not even when one has abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
Luke
12:22-34 Jesus talks about worrying about daily provision possessions, and
trusting God. This continues the same thought - warnings here about worrying
about daily provision. Parallel passages: Luke 12:22-31 and Matt 6:25-34. Luke
12:34 and Matt 6:21. At the opposite end of the spectrum from those who have
abundance and might mistake possessions for life, are those who are struggling
to get enough to eat from day to day, just to get by. The danger here is worry
and lack of faith, and Jesus uses the examples of the ravens and the lilies.
The Father makes provision for them, and in the case of the lilies, Jesus says
that even Solomon in all his wealth was not clothed like the lilies. The
admonition is to seek God's kingdom first and foremost, and He will take care
of the necessities of daily life.
It has on occasion been my experience
in talking to the homeless to understand how intimate their daily contact with
Christ is. For whatever reason they are homeless, those who know and walk with
Christ have a daily experience of seeing Him take care of them, provide for
them. There are comparatively few homeless today, perhaps, compared to the
beggars of Jesus' day (in terms of the percentage of people who are actually
homeless) and the causes are probably substantially different, but the
faithfulness of The Lord remains constant.
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