Scripture:
Luke 12:21
"This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."

Rich Toward God

In 2000, John Piper preached a message called "Seashells" to thousands of college students at the Passion Conference. In it, he contrasted two very different stories. The first was about two women in their 80s who had dedicated their retirement years to serving on the mission field in West Africa. While they were traveling on a steep mountain road in Cameroon, the brakes on their vehicle failed, and it went over a cliff, killing both women instantly. Piper said most people would call that a tragedy, but he wouldn't. They spent their lives being rich toward God. Was the accident tragic? Yes. Their lives were not.

What is tragic, he said, was a story he had read about a retired couple who moved to Punta Gorda, Florida, where they spent their days cruising on their 30-foot trawler, playing softball, and collecting seashells.

One of the enemy's greatest weapons is convincing us that our only purpose is the American Dream: to spend our lives preparing to do nothing. But I say it will not be the stuff we gather, the house we buy, or the retirement we enjoy that will matter in heaven; it will be how rich we were toward God. I often tell people that my greatest contribution will be my "Telling of Christ to Others."

Today, our portion is the closing statement of a story about a man who spent his time and energy building bigger barns so he could sit back and do nothing. Unknown to him, he would die that very night, and for all his preparation, he was not ready for what mattered most. Let that simmer...

Today, our God-Shot is that we would not get caught up in the patterns of the world or be deceived about what is truly great. Jesus said the greatest are those who serve. Greatness is defined by our Kingdom contribution, not by our retirement plan. It's not that you shouldn't have one; rather, what you do with it is what matters.

Q: Are you rich toward God?
Q: What will be your legacy, your magnum opus, your greatest contribution?

Don't let your finish line say, "We collected seashells and played softball!" Rather, let it say, "I led them to Christ!"

Lord, I know this will challenge us, and we should be challenged to evaluate what we consider a legacy, what we value, and what we are investing in. In the end, will it matter? Help us to be rich toward You and to serve You in whatever we do. Let our lives not be tragically spent, but let them be something weighty in the Kingdom. In Jesus' name, amen!

A few notes on bigger changes: I changed "bigger barn… so he could sit back" to keep the parable accurate (in Luke 12:20, God says "this very night," so I used "that very night" instead of "the next day"). I also reworded "nothing he thought he was prepared for was he" for clarity, and fixed "investing it" to "investing in." Everything else is punctuation, flow, and consistency, with your voice kept intact.