Luke 12:13-15 NIVUK
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’
14 Jesus replied, ‘Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?’ 15 Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.’
There’s a lot we could consider in these three verses, but reading them today I was caught by Jesus’ urgent ‘Watch out!’ Greed is often portrayed as not such a problem in our culture today, in fact, sometimes the system seems to celebrate and depend on it, but Jesus sees it differently. Jesus describes it here as an active threat to guard against, something that seeks to catch us out when we’re not paying attention. This call for vigilance suggests he sees it as an important matter.
Spirit, help me to be alert to greed and to resist it.
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