Who owns my things?  That is the question I want to ask you today.  

Do I own the things I have or does God?  Who is calling the shots?  

Today, I want to look at what Jesus says about your things in Luke chapter 12.  This post isn’t meant to put you in condemnation or give you a guilt trip.  

The truth is that God wants us to have things. Otherwise why would He says that He would give us these things in Deuteronomy 6?

11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;

Deuteronomy 6:11 KJV

I’m not preaching that you should not have nice things and a lot of them.  God simply says that you shouldn’t allow those things to have you. 

2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Colossians 3:2 KJV

There will come a time when God judges each and every one of us for the actions that we do (or don’t do) on this earth.  He says…

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

1 Corinthians 3:13 KJV

You see some of our works are going to be burnt up.  Why?  Because they don’t mean anything.  But other works that we do for God’s kingdom will remain.  

The whole point is that our things don’t really have any bearing in heaven.  They are for this earth, and need to be used to bless those around us wherever we can. 

Our Verse

15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Luke 12:15-21 KJV

God Blesses Us to be a Blessing

If we look at verse 15 of Luke 12, Jesus makes it pretty clear that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth”.  In other words, “I don’t care how much stuff you have.”

God will bless us abundantly above all we can ask or think.  In fact, God’s Word says more about money than any other topic.  Jesus just got finished saying in chapter 6 of this same book that God would make blessing overflow to us. 

38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Luke 6:38 KJV

What to do with the blessing?

Now if you take anything away from what Jesus says, look at what NOT to do.  See this man in verse 18 decided to build bigger barns than before. 

That’s like you getting a raise and going out to buy a bigger house or fancier car.

Now again I’m not trying to put you in bondage – the law killed everything it touched. I’m not telling you don’t buy a new car or a new house.  I’m telling you to pay attention to your motivation behind what you are purchasing. 

See this man didn’t have any motivation to bless others.  Instead, he was content to store up for himself wealth to use on his own pleasures. 

You see this all the time.  Someone decides to retire.  They quit their job, but what?  Are you going to retire on GOD too??

When you quit your job, you free up more time to preach and be used by God.  Instead, most people take it as an opportunity to sit down and kick up their feet. 

And we wonder why most people who retire end up dead in the next 5 to 10 years.  It’s because of this.

20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 

Luke 12:20 KJV

Now listen God isn’t up there ready to strike you down if you retire and sit on your blessed assurance doing nothing, but the moment you put your trust someplace other than God is the moment that you take your eyes off of Jesus. 

That opens to the door to the devil. 

Keep your eyes on Jesus

All I am saying is to keep your eyes on Jesus. 

21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Luke 12:21 KJV

You want to be rich toward God – trust me.  Blessings and more blessings will overtake those whose affections aren’t on the blessings they are receiving.  Think about the last time you had a friend who you wanted to bless.  

Would you want to hang out with someone who only wanted to be around you because of all the things you have?  Like the only reason that person is even talking to you is because of the stuff you might potentially give them.

(News flash.  God says in Luke 6:38 that MEN not angels will give you blessings.  That means God doesn’t have money either.  Money is for this earth and not for heaven.)

The point is that we forget that God simply wants a relationship with us.  We are made in the image of God so think about that thing inside of you.  Don’t you want to be around people who want to be around you?  

You want to hang out with people who want to hang out with you?  

God is the same way.  In the same way that you want friends in your life, that is the same way that God wants you in HIS life. That’s the whole point of giving us a free will and an option to choose Him or something else.  A relationship doesn’t mean anything if you are forced to be there.

Who owns your things?

So I ask again, Who owns your things?

All of the blessings you have in your life make no mistake they come from God.  What are you going to do with them?  If you can’t give it away, you don’t own it.  

These are just some of the things God has been talking to me about this morning.  

If you find it helpful, I would love to hear from you.  Feel free to contact me or check out one of our other posts here.