We all have a vision of what the good life consists of. For some, the good life is everyone in your family being healthy. For others, the good life equates to spending time in nature or at a jazz concert or having the time to create a gourmet dinner from scratch.

What is your idea of the good life?

In your ideal life, what time would you wake up? What food would you eat? How much of your work would be alone compared to how much time you worked directly with a team of others? The ideal exercise routine? How much time for Scripture and prayer in your version of the good life? And don’t answer this out loud, but:

In your ideal life, how much money would you be making?

I’m guessing none of us answered with this response – “Exactly what I’m making right now.” And I know no one thought, “In my ideal life, I would actually be making a good bit less than I’m making right now.” If we honestly answered that question, most of us would have given some version of this answer – MORE.

As long as your version of the good life includes more money than you have right now, the good life will always be out of reach for you.

We’re continuing this breakthrough series called, Owning What Owns You. I’m calling this message, “What is the Good Life?”

Luke 12:13-21 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 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.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Watch out! In other words, be looking for this. When we launched this series, I gave a 4-step process for taking ownership. And the first one is this: RECOGNITION.

Most people do not see greed as an issue in their life.

This series is called, Owning What Owns You. There are some things we do in life that we know we’re guilty of. We usually know when we’re lying. Or when we’re talking harshly to another person. Or when we’re committing adultery. But most of us don’t know when we’re being greedy or even worse, we don’t think we’ve ever been greedy a day in our life. Why? Because we compare ourselves to other people who have way more than we do.

Greed is so hard to see; this is why Jesus says, “Watch out. Be on your guard.”

Greed, even if you don’t see it, can absolutely own you.

“Jesus warns people far more about greed than about sex, yet almost no one thinks they are guilty of it.” Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods

If it can be hard to see greed, it would help us to know what it is exactly. One commentator gives us this understanding:

Greed is an insatiable desire and lust for more and more. It is all-consuming, so that all of life becomes focused on the accumulation of wealth. There is no room for anything else, not even God.

Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. How can we be on guard? Look for these things in your life – endless quest for more, your inability to go without something, see how often you’re playing the comparison came, and pay attention to what someone else has that you find yourself coveting.  

Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Again, this series is called Owning What Owns You. Here’s a question to ask:

Do I own my possessions or do my possessions own me?

Are you enslaved to the things you own or even the things you wish you owned? Or are you living in freedom? Meaning, you are grateful for all the provision and blessing God has given you, but you’re able to hold it loosely.

Then Jesus tells them this parable to illustrate the truths he’s seeking to communicate. Here’s the first thing that stands out to me that I think many of us need to hear:

There is nothing wrong with receiving an abundant harvest.

There isn’t. You and I don’t need to feel guilty for what we receive; but we do need to have a plan for what we’re going to do with whatever we receive. The man in this story received so much, but he had no plan for what to do with what he was given.

Do you have a present plan for what you will do with what you receive in the future?

Now many people relieve their guilt on this by having a “What I’ll do when I have more” plan. When I have more, I’ll share some. When I have more, I’ll give to the mission of Jesus. When I have more, I’ll instantly become more generous.

If you are not generous with less, do not assume you’ll become generous when you have more.

When this man gets more, he assumes he should tear down his current barns (plural) so he can build bigger barns. His barns were already full. He had more than enough. But when you’re convinced that you’re the point of everything, you assume every blessing you receive is meant to end with you. What might tearing down your barn and building a bigger one look like in your life?

How much is enough for you? What will you do with the surplus? I have no problem with having savings or a retirement account or a college fund for your kids. I have all of these things. But I also have this conviction:

We have too many resources sitting on the sidelines that could be invested in the mission of Jesus.

Listen to what this guy says to himself. “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” Is that why God blesses you or me?  Do not set your life up so you no longer need to trust God or so that you no longer have a purpose to live for – this is not what God has for your life.

How do we become people who are rich toward God rather than simply storing up things for ourselves?

Find contentment in Jesus, not in His gifts to you.

One of the biggest learnings for us in taking ownership for the things in our lives is to build the necessary structures to free ourselves from what has held us back. Here’s how we do this to free ourselves from the stronghold of greed:

Make a pre-decision for your generosity.

We want to help you build this structure and engage in a practice that frees you from a life of greed. Today, I want to invite you into a 90-Day Generosity Challenge. I know you’re thinking, “I thought it takes 21 days to form a habit.” While that might be true, you and I don’t get a paycheck every day.

The reason we have different steps for you to take is because we are at different places on our faith journey and on our generosity journey.

• My next step is to receive the generosity of Jesus by placing my faith and hope in Him. I am ready to become a Christian.

• My next step is to move from giving nothing to giving something.

• My next step is to move from giving something to giving proportionally and consistently.

• My next step is to move to tithing (giving 10% of all my income).

• My next step is to move beyond giving 10% as God directs me.

My Generosity Journey – Has become one of the joys of my life. Shauna and I are currently increasing the % we give each year and looking for creative ways to be generous.

Will greed really get in the way of you following Jesus?

Matthew 26:14-16 Then one of the Twelve – the one called Judas Iscariot – went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

When you want something more than you want Jesus, you’ll give him up too. I want to give you an opportunity to give up greed and receive Jesus. And to go on this generosity journey that will draw you closer to Jesus, make you more like Jesus, impact the mission of Jesus in this church and beyond, and bring you a joy beyond what you can imagine right now.