^{Lk 12:13} Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

          ^{Lk 12:14} Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”

          ^{Lk 12:15} 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.”

          ^{Lk 12:16} And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.

          ^{Lk 12:17} He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

          ^{Lk 12:18} “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

          ^{Lk 12:19} And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’

          ^{Lk 12:20} “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?’

          ^{Lk 12:21} “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

      Dr. Art Arlene often addresses health issues on the Today show. A few years ago he introduced a series he would be doing on diet & exercise. He promised that within 4 weeks, if people followed his instructions, they would loose weight, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and other such stuff. He began by sharing the details.

      The Dr. spoke to a group who would be following his program. He asked them what single thing in their lives prevented them from getting the exercise they need. The majority responded their jobs. His response: "Is your job so important its worth your dying?"

      Here we are at the first of the year. That time when many people make New Years Resolutions. How many of you have made a New Years Resolution? Whether we make formal resolutions or not, the first of the year is a time for new beginnings. We think about getting a fresh, new start.

      From what I hear, the top New Years Resolutions have to do with losing weight and getting more exercise. Have you noticed the increased number of newspaper ads for exercise equipment? Many have made this their New Years resolution. They have made it a priority in their lives.

      A wise, old sage said just the other day, "People do those things they want to do." Based on that bit of wisdom, if a resolution reflects what a person seriously wants, there is a good chance it won't be broken. However, if the resolution is more like a wish, chances are the wish won't come true. If a person give the resolution top priority in their life, they most likely will accomplish their goal.

      The rich farmer this parable from Jesus had a priority. His priority was to get richer. He had this terrible dilemma. He had more wheat than storage capacity. What WAS he to do! "I've got it," he says, "I'll tear down my old barns & build newer, bigger, better ones. (Have you notice that in Las Vegas it’s not unusual to see hotels imploded to make room for newer, bigger, better ones?)

      The farmer had evidently been concentrating on material wealth and neglecting his relationship with God. YOU FOOL -- That's what God called him. The farmer said to himself, "Soul, you have ample, goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."

      He not only concerned himself with storing up great wealth, He planned to major in relaxing, eating, drinking, & being merry. The farmer had priorities. Storing up bumper crops. Relaxing Eating Drinking Making merry BUT God said, "YOU FOOL!" "You have your priorities all wrong." "FIRST, be rich toward God."

      Diana & I once attended a two day retreat on Prayer. One of the things that really grapped me on that retreat was the idea that God is always present to us. The question is, "Are we present to God?"

      What does it mean to "be present" to someone? You've all seen what it means NOT to be present? Joe and Paul meet each other as they walk down the hall. Joe says, "Hi, Paul, how are you doing?" Paul replies, "Not too well, my mother was just run over by a bus." "That's good, have a great day!"

      Joe & Paul were near each other & talking to each other, BUT Joe was not present to Paul.

       God is always present to us. Are we present to God? How Paul was doing was not really a priority for Joe. Is God a high priority to us? Is God #1?

      Do we have as our Priority to be Rich To God? I hear so many explanations for why people don't attend worship. for why people don't study scripture. for why people don't MAKE time for prayer. for why people don't serve through the church.

      The farmer worked hard at becoming rich right up to the day before he would die, failing to be rich toward God

      The wise old sage said, “People do what they want to do.” I was reading just this morning from the forward to the book The Upper Room Disciplines 2006: A Book of Daily Devotions. Susan Ruach shared her favorite definition of “discipline.” She wrote it is remembering what you want.

      Susan then points out that what she wants in her life is to “know God more deeply and to live more faithfully.” She goes on to explain how life can get in the way. We have things to do and places to go. We get so involved that we forget what it is that we really want. That is why we need discipline. It helps us remember what we want.

      I suspect that just about everyone in this room wants the same thing that Susan wants–to know God more deeply and to live more faithfully. I believe it is our desire to be present to God. As Jesus put it, to be rich toward God.

      For most all Christians, the discipline includes daily devotional reading, Bible study and prayer. Making ourselves accountable to others in a small group or in covenant with another person greatly improves our continuing in discipline.

            We can start today. Jesus has told us in this parable that the day is coming when we could be too late.