In Luke 12, there is a fascinating story about a prosperous businessman. It starts off good; the guy had a fertile farm that produced a fine crop. Nothing inherently wrong with success and abundance, according to scripture. Jesus actually encourages success and fruitfulness. There were lots of rich and Godly people in the bible. There are also plenty of warnings for the wealthy and how they are to view and spend their wealth.

If you read the pretext to this parable, Jesus answers a question from someone in the crowd. Jesus responds to a man asking about splitting a family inheritance and that he has no authority in judging such matters. The context is that Jesus was preaching to thousands of people on spiritual matters. When asked about a family economic matter, he defers but responds with a spiritual truth about money.

Back to the story. The man is called a fool by Jesus because his response to a good problem was wrong. He has a harvest so huge he could not contain it with his current structures. The barns were too small. Again, nothing wrong with multiplying what you have; the bible encourages it.
The first thing to notice was that he did not know who owned the harvest. "I will tear down MY barns and build bigger ones." As Christians, we believe that everything we own is God's, and we are just stewards of what is already His. Then all we read is I I I and my my my. This was a self-obsessed, selfish man who had no thoughts for anyone else but himself. He was only concerned with his well-being and future and nobody else.

In the story, he dies that night, and of course, all his earthly wealth is useless to him. What's the point? If God blesses you with abundance, remember Who owns it. Use it to build riches in heaven by building the Kingdom of God and helping those less fortunate on earth. Don't let your wealth stop you from relying on and building your relationship with God.

Beyond the practicalities of generosity impacting the here and now, I believe God asks us to give as a test. Not in the legalistic way of the Old Testament but in the New Covenant liberation from selfishness and self-centeredness. 

“Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”  Jesus said the man. What's the antidote to greed? What's the opposite of valuing your life by the material possessions you own?

If the human disease is greed, then generosity is the cure. Generosity is the biblical prescription.