But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? Luke 12:20
“Let the desire of gain be broken when we have that which is enough. For what madness is it to labour in heaping up those things which must pass to others, either by robbery, or theft, or by proscription, or by death?”
Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (c. 240-320) a.k.a. Lactantius of Rome, in Chapter LXII of The Epitome of the Divine Institutes entitled “Of restraining the pleasures of the senses.” Lactantius served as spiritual advisor to Emperor Constantine and tutor to his son.
Christianity in the Roman Empire was influenced significantly by leaders like Lactantius. If he was our visiting professor or guest preacher today, here’s how I think he would instruct each of us regarding money. He’d be very direct. He might ask us: Will you become a joyful distributor of God’s blessings or, like the rich fool in today’s text, will God have to relieve you of your duties? He would shake us to wake us.
I am praising God that the weekend seminar with Northern Seminary students went so well. God broke “the desire of gain” in their hearts because they came to learn that in Christ they have enough! Thanks for praying for them. They now grasp life in God’s economy and can’t wait to help others integrate their faith and finances. Sometime in 2017, the material we used will be published by Seedbed (stay tuned for a release date).
In God’s providence my layover in Cleveland en route to Chicago was cancelled by weather and my preaching today was postponed too, so I get to fly to Cleveland to see my folks this morning en route back to Denver. The more I explore God’s providence, the more I see the faithful hands of Christ at work around me, and sense the Holy Spirit stirring within me. It leaves me in awe that I ever thought I needed anything (like money) in addition to Christ.