Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Life – Luke 12:15 – All Kinds Of Greed – Growing As Disciples

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  Luke 12:15 (NIV)

More

If you make pursuing wealth and acquiring an abundance of things the goal of your life what will you end up with at the end of your life? I will end up with nothing. Wealth and possessions will never permanently be mine. It is the world’s trick and the devil’s trap to try to ensnare me in greed and captivate me with a continual desire for more. Yes, it is.

Are all desires for more evil? No, I think you have created me with a desire for more that is good, right and healthy. What do you mean by that? Let me first say that I think that there are many good desires from you that the devil and his evil try to distort and corrupt. I have this good desire to want to know and love you more. I have this good desire to want to serve you more. It feels like I have a holy dissatisfaction within me. I want to bear more fruit for your kingdom and glory. I want to become more like you in all that I think, say and do. Those are all very good desires that I have placed in your heart and on your mind.

But, you have had some experience with greed and the continual desire for more that is not good, right and healthy, isn’t that true? Yes, it’s sad to say that I have been ensnared by greed and caught in the trap of continually wanting more. How has greed and discontent harmed you? I have chased after money and things. I have pursued what I have wanted and had to have. I have worked too hard and pursued the wrong goals. Once you have acquired more money and more things how have you felt? Acquiring money and possessions has never left me satisfied. There is always something bigger, better or newer that is far better than what I have already acquired. Somehow, I have also always needed just a little more money. The pursuit of money and things has become like a treadmill that I want to jump off. I can see that.  

What is the real cost of being ensnared by greed and caught in the trap of continually wanting more? The entire course of my life will be directed by what I pursue. I know that I can’t pursue money and things and still live the life you have given me to live. Why is that? I won’t have time to know, love, follow and serve you if I have decided to make my life all about acquiring wealth and possessing things. It’s not just and issue of time either. It’s also a question of the desire of my heart. What do you mean by that? There isn’t room enough in my heart and mind to hold on to and pursue both desires. I will either desire you or all that the world has to offer. My heart can’t hold on to competing desires that will pull me in opposite directions. No, it cannot. It is impossible to try to hold on to both. Yes, it is. So what have you done?  I have made you the pursuit of my life. I want to know and love you more. I want follow and serve you better. I want to bear more fruit for your kingdom and glory. I want to live my life with and for you. How do you feel about your decision? I feel set free. I feel happy and content. I feel full of the life that you have given me to live! That’s very good.

Lord, I have been ensnared by greed and caught in the trap of continually wanting more. Forgive me. I know my life does not consist of wealth and an abundance of possessions. Thank you that I can live my life with and for you!  Amen

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Life – Luke 12-15 – All Kinds Of Greed – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com