Bible Lesson



NT054 - On Guard against Greed

Scriptures

• Luke 12:13-21

• Memorization: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Tim. 6:10 NKJ

Big Idea

Be rich towards God.

Observation & Interpretation

What does the man in the crowd ask Jesus to do? (Make his brother divide their inheritance with him.) What subject did Jesus start to talk about after that? (Greed.) Why? (He knew the man’s heart was greedy. The problem wasn’t his brother; it was his attitude about riches!) What important principle did Jesus give in v.15? (A person’s life is not the sum total of his possessions.) Jesus tells a parable about a rich man. What is the man’s problem? (Too much stuff and no place to put it.) What does he decide to do? (Build more storage.) How did he think this would help? (He could be secure knowing about all his possessions and he could eat, drink and be merry.) What does God say to the rich man? (He was a fool because that night he would die and all his things would do him no good. Someone else would get all his stuff.) With what principle does Jesus end? (We should not hoard treasure, but we should be rich toward God.) Is it wrong to be wealthy? (No.) What was the real problem of the rich man? (His riches were the sum total of his life.) Read 1 Tim. 6:10. What does that passage say about money? (It is wrong to love money, not to have money.) This man’s life, his security, his identity was in what he owned and hoarded. Unfortunately for him, those things could not help him after he died! What he had neglected was a relationship with God!

Application

What is your attitude toward your possessions? Do you keep wanting more and more? Is your focus on God and relationship with Him? Jesus said that we are to be rich toward God. How can we be rich toward God? (Love Him, obey Him, study and meditate on His Word, love and serve others, keep focused on what is pleasing to Him and then do it, pray and then listen to Him.) Talk about ways you and your family are rich towards God today. How could you improve? Pray together and ask God to help you keep your focus on Him and not things.

Digging Deeper

a. Read Luke 13:33-48, study it carefully and then do an inductive study on the passage. Use the following outline as your guide, writing down your findings in each of the five sections:

I. Content – who, what, when, where (write down what you observe from the passage – make no conclusions) Identify any obvious divisions in the passage.

II. Compare – are there any other passages in the Bible that could help explain this one? Look them up and write how they are significant to an understanding of the passage at hand.

III. Concept – What do you think the passage is teaching? What is the core idea?

IV. Commentaries – You may now go and jot down what you can glean from other people’s ideas on this passage. Do not skip to this step before you complete I II and III!

V. Connection – What can you learn from this passage? What will you take away from your study? Is there an example to follow? Something to learn about God or man? Is there a command to obey? A sin to avoid? In what significant way did this passage affect you?

References & Resources

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