Series: Short Stories with Jesus
Message: Barnburner
Preacher: Sam Leonor
Reflection: Sam Leonor
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira

Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.

Read: Luke 12:13-21 in the English Standard Version (ESV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.

Reflect: When my son was learning to speak, one of his first words was “mine." My wife and I thought it was so cute at first. Until we realized two things: 1) "Mine" is almost every toddler’s first word, and 2) He really thought everything belonged to him! It exposed a very real human instinct (selfishness), along with the myth of ownership.

From a biblical perspective there is no such thing as private property because, as the Psalmist says, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof (Psalm 24:1)." And “for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10). Everything in the world, therefore, belongs to God. We are merely stewards of the things we own for a time. Blessings are not something we earn, something for which we can take credit.

Author W. Robert McClelland puts it this way:

We have no ultimate claim on our blessings; otherwise they lose their blessed-ness. That I have them at all is a gift of grace which defies rational explanation. Why some are blessed with health and happiness, not to mention wealth, and others are not is a question which both puzzled and bothered the psalmists of old. It is an eternal mystery and a contemporary quandary. But that they have been entrusted to me is a fact I cannot escape. That they be put at God's disposal, therefore; is required.

Recalibrate: What is the best way to steward the blessings God has given us? What in your life needs to be put “at 
God’s disposal”?

Respond: Pray that God will make you aware of and grateful for the blessings you have. 

Research: Read Psalm 73 and Matthew 5:44-46, consider why Jesus needed to reframe our understanding of whom God blesses.

Sam Leonor loves his work as chaplain to the students and faculty of La Sierra University. His ministry is marked by a call to radical faith in Jesus. He loves finding ways to engage culture deeply for the sake of the Gospel. He has devoted his ministry to helping young adults bloom into a faith that is growing, mission oriented, and full of love.

Play a game of sharing with your child. Give them all the toys and ask if you can play with them. Will they share their toys with you? Share something of yours with them. Tell them that it makes you very happy to share with them and see if they say the same thing back to you.

What would you rather have, a room full of toys or someone to share them with? Imagine that you are the rich fool; what would you do to change the story?

Verse 19 says, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy . . .” Think of a person at school who has less than you. There is nothing wrong with having much, yet does having more drive 
you to complacency or to help others experience a better life?