What do you do with the gifts that you have received from God? Yesterday we reflected on our responses to these gifts and prayed for the grace of gratitude and, from this, generosity to share these gifts.
The rich man in the parable decides that he will store up his wealth and build bigger barns and storehouses. This will provide some insurance for him should he face hard
times in the future. It will mean that he can relax a bit, take it easy, eat, drink and be merry. Notice what he doesn’t do with his riches: he doesn’t share them, he doesn’t use them to help others, and he doesn’t use them to start new and life-giving ventures. He receives his gifts, he thanks himself and he settles down into his armchair to enjoy the fruit of his lands and labour.
It seems to me that what the man does is what
many of us might do in his situation. Wouldn’t we all like the insurance that a large barn house (or a large bank account balance) provides? Wouldn’t we all like to eat, drink and be merry when we have the means to do so? The rich man, by storing up his wealth and taking it easy, misses a key opportunity to use the material gifts that he has received to invest in that which is really life-giving: relationships, service, and prayer.
Take a moment to look at your life and remember all the good things that God has given you. Did you respond to these blessings with gratitude? What did you do with these gifts? Did you store them up or did you reinvest them into more life-giving pursuits?
