Luke 12:13-34

13Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, I have a problem with my brother. Our father has died. Tell my brother to give me my part of the things that our father left us.’

14Jesus replied, ‘It is not my job to say which of you is right or wrong. And it is not my job to say how much each of you should have.’

15Then he said to all the people, ‘Be very careful! Do not want more things than you really need. A person's life is worth more than the things that he has, even if he is very rich.’

16Jesus then told them a story: ‘A man had some very good ground, where he planted seeds. The plants grew very well. When they became ripe, he had much more than he planted.

17He thought about how much he would soon have. “I have nowhere to store all the food from my plants,” he said to himself.

18But then he decided what to do. He thought, “I will pull down the building where I now store my food. Then I will build a bigger place to store it all, as well as everything else that is mine.

19Then I will say to myself, ‘You have plenty of things stored safely. These will be enough for you for many years. Now you can live an easy life. Eat and drink as much as you want. Enjoy yourself.’ ”

20But then God said to the man, “You are a fool! Tonight you will die. You will have to leave everything behind that you have stored. Somebody else will have them, but you will not!” ’

21Then Jesus said, ‘Some people think only about having many things for themselves. This story shows how those people live. But God says about them, “They have nothing of value at all.” ’

22Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you this: You should not worry about how to stay alive. Do not worry about the food that you need to stay alive. Do not worry about the clothes that you need to wear.

23Your life is more important than the food that you eat. Your body is more important than your clothes.

24Think about the birds. They do not plant seeds in the ground. They do not cut down plants to eat. They have no buildings to store food. But God gives them food to eat. You are much more valuable than the birds.

25Even if you always worry about your life, you cannot make it as much as one hour longer!

26No, you cannot even do a small thing like that. So, if you are always worrying about the things that you need, will that really help you?

27Think about how the wild flowers grow. They do not do work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you this about them: Even one wild flower is more beautiful than King Solomon was. And King Solomon wore the most beautiful clothes.

28It is God that gives beautiful clothes even to the grass. One day the grass is growing in the field, but the next day people will cut it and burn it. God will certainly take care of you, much more than he takes care of the grass. You should trust him more than you do!

29Do not always be thinking about the food and drink that you need. Do not worry about things like that.

30People who do not know God are always trying to get these things. But as for you, your Father God knows that you need them.

31Instead, always think about the things that are important in the kingdom of God. Then God will also give you the things that you need each day.

32You are only a small group of people, but do not be afraid. Your Father God has given his kingdom to you. He is happy to do that.

33So sell what you have and give the money to poor people. Then you will have valuable things in heaven. That is like keeping your money in a bag that will never have any holes in it. There, the value of your things will never become less. There, nobody can take them from you. Insects cannot destroy them.

34If you do that, you will be thinking a lot about heaven. That is where you will have stored your valuable things.’