Luke 12:13-31

The Story of the Rich Man

13 Someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "tell my brother to divide the family property with me."

14 Jesus replied, "Friend, who made me a judge or umpire between you?"

15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has."

16 Then Jesus told them a story. He said, "A certain rich man's land produced a good crop.

17 He thought to himself, 'What should I do? I don't have any place to store my crops.'

18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my storerooms and build bigger ones. I will store all my grain and my other things in them.

19 I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time." '

20 "But God said to him, 'You foolish man! This very night I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

21 "That is how it will be for anyone who stores things away for himself but is not rich in God's eyes."

Do Not Worry

22 Then Jesus spoke to his disciples. He said, "I tell you, do not worry. Don't worry about your life and what you will eat. And don't worry about your body and what you will wear.

23 There is more to life than eating. There are more important things for the body than clothes.

24 "Think about the ravens. They don't plant or gather crops. They don't have any storerooms at all. But God feeds them. You are worth much more than birds!

25 "Can you add even one hour to your life by worrying?

26 You can't do that very little thing. So why worry about the rest?

27 "Think about how the lilies grow. They don't work or make clothing. But here is what I tell you. Not even Solomon in all of his glory was dressed like one of those flowers.

28 If that is how God dresses the wild grass, how much better will he dress you! After all, the grass is here only today. Tomorrow it is thrown into the fire. Your faith is so small!

29 "Don't spend time thinking about what you will eat or drink. Don't worry about it.

30 People who are ungodly run after all of those things. Your Father knows that you need them.

31 "But put God's kingdom first. Then those other things will also be given to you.