Lutheran Devotional 31st July 2025: Choosing the Right Goals

Lutheran Devotional 31st July 2025, Thursday Message

TOPIC: Choosing the Right Goals

SCRIPTURE: Luke 12:13-21

¹³ Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of ^[a]covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

¹⁶ Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

²¹ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

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I wince every time I read this parable. How horrible to be the rich man, and to get to the end of your days only to realize that you’d been chasing the wrong things all your life! How horrible to realize that you should have been looking for God and the things that belong to God—and instead you threw away your life on money. Because money, important as it is, is never going to set you right with God. It’s never going to cure your diseases, or save your life, or rescue your marriage. It’s not going to give you trustworthy friends or a truly happy life. Money is good for a lot of things, but not for the things that matter the most in the end.

So what should we be chasing? Jesus says, “The things that make you rich toward God.” And what would those things be, then? Well, that would be anything that gives you life, joy, forgiveness, and peace—anything that makes you what God intended you to be from the beginning. Only then will you be truly happy.

And where can we find all that? Only in Jesus, who gives us life, joy, forgiveness, and peace as a free gift. Only in Jesus, who is God’s best Gift from heaven—Jesus, who is God Himself come down to be our own forever. We know He loves us, because He lay down His life for us, to set us free from the power of sin and death. We know He can give us everything He promises, because He rose from the dead—and He is keeping His promises, even today. And He promises to be with us forever, all of us who trust in Him. If we have Jesus, we have life. It’s that simple, and that wonderful!

WE PRAY: Lord, give me Yourself, and all Your other good gifts as well. Amen.

Reflection Questions:

1. Why do people go for money as their number one desire?
2. Are you happy with the choices you’ve made in your life so far?
3. Why would God give Himself to you as your Savior and Friend?

Today’s Readings:

Psalms 116-118
1 Thessalonians 4

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.