Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:8 (NIV):  "Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land."

Thought:  To me, our nation has many "woeful ones" whose goals are only materialistic.

Question:  Have I counted the cost, and looked ahead to the outcome, of my lifestyle?

Material accumulation really seems to irritate God.  His nature is completely opposite to the idea of greed and accumulation.  He gives generously.  He "dispenses" Himself, through grace, in the form of gifts to men.  This verse contradicts His Nature.  It erects borders of private property and extends them greedily, pushing out the poor. 

Thus He prepares judgment for the ones who choose to pile up land and property to the point of excluding neighbors.  What good is it to alienate yourself by greed?  It would be so much better to have many more friends by sharing what you have with them to meet their needs. 

What woe might God give to these people?  Perhaps "merely" the consequences of what they have chosen to do:  live alone with their "stuff" until they die.  And alone they will surely be.

I am reminded of the rich man in Luke 12:16 - 21:  "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  He thought to himself, 'What shall I do?  I have no place to store my crops.'  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.  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.'  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?'  This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." 

Prayer:  Lord God, help me to invest in eternal values.  Help me to put aside my natural greed and give to others.  Help me to invest in those around me rather than the sphere of my own "empire."  Help me to be rich toward You, Father.  Amen. 

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