There's rich and then there's rich...

Luke 12:13-15 (MSG)
¹³  Someone out of the crowd said, "Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance." ¹⁴  He replied, "Mister, what makes you think it's any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?" ¹⁵  Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." 

The last sentence in the section about is what I want to concentrate on today. What was your life like when you were growing up? Did you have everything you needed and everything you wanted? Many of us were blessed like this. We couldn't have asked for anything more, life was comfortable.

For many of us, our first years were quite the opposite; there wasn't much money for anything, but the basics in life. Food, clothing, and shelter were about all we could boast about having. If you were like me, you didn't realize that you had so little, until you got to school and met others in your grade who had a lot.

To me, a lot meant he or she had some toy that I really wanted. This will sound petty because now looking back I see that it was, but Mary had it all. Her bedroom was everything a young girl would want right down to the ruffled canopy bed. I admired all the dolls and stuffed animals lined up on her shelves, but the one thing I really wanted was her pogo stick. Keep the dolls and teddy bears, but let me at that pogo stick.

I didn't realize back then that, "Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." No, but now I do know that. I understand that Mary may have had all the things that money could buy, but she didn't have a younger sister to share life with. I doubt very much that she had a grandma or grandpa who lived through the yard from her who she could turn to when she needed an extra hug.

Each week as we prepare to share our tithes and offerings, consider this story. Is there a Mary from your past...or maybe your present? Can you count your blessings and then share them? We only need to remember, "Life is not defined by what we have, even when we have a lot."

Luke 12:13-21