And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. [Luke 12:15 KJV]

And he went on to say to them all, “Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed, because your TRUE LIFE is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.” [Luke 12:15 GNT]


The story is told of a King who had been deceived into thinking that there was some glorious attire of great prize worn only by the high and the noble. He greatly desired to have his name inscribed in history as part of those privileged to have the attire on, so, he sought for the special attire, not minding how much it will cost.

When the 'so-called' dress was eventually brought in to the King in exchange for a fortune, he could see nothing. He wondered how the dress looked like, because by careful scrutiny with his eyes, he couldn’t see or feel anything. He questioned this folly, but was prevailed upon, and deceived into believing that the mystic dress was an attire of great value, that can only be viewed or seen by 'glorious' sight. But in actual fact, there was nothing - no dress, nothing at all, it was only a delusion, an illusion of the mind, a figment of imagination, nothing really existed.

The king was specially arrayed with this illusive robe, he was delicately dressed top down, and theatrically decorated by those deceivers with nothing, it was only a farce, a make-believe. He was thereafter presented to a crowd of admirers. Of course, everybody who looked at the King clearly saw his complete nakedness because he had nothing on, but everyone convinced themselves that actually the King had some glorious attire on, it was only their sights that were not glorious to behold it. So when asked how the king looked, everyone with one accord shouted "GLORIOUS". - glorious nakedness!!!

It was only a little child in the midst of the crowd that laughed the king to scorn in disdain... "the king has turned mad, he is starkly nude and shameless" , the young lad mocked.

The king was convinced to believe that he had a great and glamorous attire on, whereas, he was starkly naked. This is the clear portrait of the lives of many today, who have thrown away the real wealth and have accumulated a lot of 'nothing', deceiving themselves that they are worth some great value, while in actual fact, they are empty and poor, their yardstick for measuring wealth and riches is delusive, false and deceptive.

The Forbes magazine comes up regularly with an updated list of ‘who is who’ in the society, they publish a list of the world's billionaires by rank, they measure the worth of men by the cash they've got in the bank, the number of assets they have acquired, the investments they have made that are attached to their names... The question then in my mind today is, "are these the true yardsticks for measuring the life and net worth of a man?


“...Take heed, and beware of covetousness..."

Here is a warning for me, "take heed!!!". Jesus says there is a 100% probability for my mind to deceive me into thinking that 'I am what I am' by the things I have amassed, the properties I have and the cash I control. There is a tendency to feel that I have arrived, a tendency to call material things "some great blessings", a tendency to be relaxed, thinking I am an achiever, just because goods have increased, a tendency to think God is partial because my pocket is dry, a tendency to believe that 'a heavy pocket, is a heavy life'...

"What men call greatness, Jesus calls it 'COVETOUSNESS'. Do you ever think that it is the entrance of that great monster called covetousness, when there is an ardent desire to switch job to another because of higher pay, and you engage some spiritual leaders to achieve your self-given assignment? Is it not the entry of covetousness, when you suddenly feel discontented with your status, because a brother - whom you rate lower - begins to control more than you do? The numerous fasting and prayers you engage in that your material status may change, the loud church testimonies you give because goods have increased regardless of what position Jesus now occupies, what other name is this called, if not covetousness?


“...for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

A man's life does not consist in the volume of material things he has, a man's net worth is not calculated by the number of buildings, assets, cars, properties, worldly investments that he possesses, those things do not make up or constitute his life, the Forbes magazine's way of calculating net worth is wrong, and opposed to God's ways because what makes up riches are totally different from these junk.

It is a distortion of the mind for you to think you are having a better life because money has increased. It is a confusion, created by the world system when 'comfortable life' is being defined as the presence of artificial gadgets that soothe the body, rather than the presence of grace and glory that suffuses the soul. A man of higher societal status, one who rakes in perhaps thousands or millions of dollars monthly, is usually regarded high and great before men, a show that the world has lost sight of what real achievement is all about, and Christians today are swayed by this worldly wind also. Life is being approached from the false, artificial angle, life is being wrongly summarised today as a paltry 70 or 80 years here below, what ought to be a worthy preparation for true life is being mistaken as an end in itself. When a house is built or a property is owned, men begin to see the owner as some god, he is carried and judged by the abundance of the things he possesses. The accolades and appellations that are attached to names today, which define the positions where certain men are placed, is a function of how distorted our thinking has become.

Imagine judging men by these physical things that are not permanent, if a little fire gulps many of the things we call assets, riches or money today, the richest man will suddenly become the poorest, what kind of deception has hooked men of this age so much that we can no longer see properly?, we call poverty riches, things that cannot carry a man beyond the four walls of this terrestrial earth, we see that, as a standard for measuring greatness, and men are killing themselves just to acquire some more of that. Testimony flames go up in churches everyday because perishables have increased?, whole nights are spent on vigils, prayers and fasting with heavy denials just to have a name, pulpit messages are devoted to the accumulation of garbage, as if that was why Christ came, those who do not have these goods begin to call God wicked, we now call living as dead, and dead as living, whole lives given men are being spent and wasted to pursue garbage..., this is the height of covetousness that Jesus condemns.

Among believers today, several wrong languages are used: those who have cars, houses, properties and money are called 'big men', they are big in our eyes because of the abundance of things they have possessed - perishable things that cannot last beyond the world, Jesus would rather refer to those men as 'small men', they pride in the non-essentials, while they have left true riches out.

The Bible declares that life's measuring tool is not the physical things you have. According to Jesus, all the men we call rich are actually poor, all the people we call big men are actually bankrupt. The things a man has that makes him sit and live comfortably, with him thinking that he's living a good life, is actually a confusion, he has left the actual for the mirage, his understanding has been distorted, he has covered himself with a mystic clothing, not knowing that he is still naked.

A man may have buildings, properties, clothes, assets, money, investments, companies in this world, but these are not the things that make him rich, the life and net worth of a man is not calculated by all these things, riches and wealth are not measured by perishable things, whatever it is that can perish, and cannot last beyond this world, CANNOT form part of the parameters used to calculate riches.

When men begin to feel big because goods, things, gadgets have increased, when believers begin to move from job to job in search of better life because higher pay is their definition for better life, when people begin to define status, grade and pedigree by the amount of company shares, debentures, investments and physical things they have amassed, when a man begins to feel secured because his bank account is fat, it is a confusion of the worldly system that is taking over the heart.

Whenever people quarrel and you hear things like "Do you know who I am?", "Am I your mate?", "Who are you?"... it is a deception of worldly accumulation that is troubling their perspectives, they are poor men who think they are rich, they are men who are leaning on weak structures that will soon collapse.


“...your true life is not made up of the things you own” [GNT]

There is something deeper in God that life is determined by, there is something richer, something greater and higher that natural eyes cannot see, the beauty thereof is serene, it takes up the whole of life, body, spirit and soul are blessed thereby, It is deception to think that life is better because you have gold and not God. In measuring the net worth of a man therefore, anything that is corruptible (perishable) CANNOT be used. What parameters should we be looking at?

1. Is it GOLD?

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers [1Peter 1:18]

The Bible says silver and gold are corruptible. Money, investments, company shares, stocks, bank deposits... are in the category of 'silver and gold'. The perishable nature of silver and gold automatically disqualifies them from being part of the yardsticks for measuring the net worth of a man.

2. Is it the GLORIES of this world

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away [1Peter 1:24]

Worldly status, positions, big names, possessions, accumulations of whatever kind, are all categorized as 'the glories of the world'. The Bible states here that all these worldly glories are transient and not sustainable, they cannot carry a man far, therefore, they cannot form part of the measuring parameters to calculate a man's net worth.

The Parameters to Measure TRUE RICHES:

1. Heavenly Treasures

"...sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:..." [Luke 18:22]

- Jesus opened our eyes to the fact that heavenly treasures, not worldly treasures, actually constitute part of the worth of a man's life. Since whatever I have on earth cannot be reckoned with, I must find a way of converting all my earthly treasures (the perishables) into heavenly treasures, I must make a transfer from the transient to the everlasting. Earthly treasures stored up here on earth is a waste, it does not add to one's life, it only becomes true treasures when it is stored in heaven. True investment therefore is the eternal investments.

Another thing of great importance here is that, it is not QUANTITY that matters before heaven, it is QUALITY. Quantity, volume is what is exalted here on earth, and those just form a bunch of garbage. The testimonies which are given, which we call great, is that of the man who paid $5million for church building. It looks great and gigantic before earth, but it might not worth anything compared to the woman, who gave her 2 mites to God.
Make a secure transfer of your perishables today into eternal glories, release it from the worldly bank account into the heavenly account, by giving to God and to the poor, that you may be rich.

2. The Grace of God

“...But by the grace of God I am what I am...” [1Corinthians 15:10]
If all you have is money and you think you are somebody, then have a rethink, because in actual sense, you are nothing.

3. The Word of God

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. But the word of the Lord endureth for ever... And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. [1Peter 1:23,25]

Having said that nothing incorruptible can be used as a yardstick to measure the true worth of life, the Bible here reveals that the Word of God lives and abides forever, it is incorruptible. How much of God's word do you have that have become alive within you?

4. The Blood of Jesus

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: [1Peter 1:18-19]

Belteshazzar was the great king of the whole provinces of Babylon, he had thousands of lords, he had goods and gadgets, he commandeered legions of armies, myriads of men were subject unto him, he was rich in all kinds of silver and gold, he lacked nothing humanly speaking, he could be called the richest man in the world in his days. But, the day of calculation of his true net worth came, and the Bible dreadfully declared "thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting". He was weighed and found wanting, he was placed on a divine scale and found to be empty, he was a wretched man, who was totally bankrupt in heaven's sight. Despite all his wordly riches, affluence, wealth, positions, investments that rated him so high before men, none of them was used by heaven to calculate his net worth, none of them added up to the contents of his life, the Good News Translation of the Bible puts his deplorable testimony as this:

"... you have been weighed on the scales and found to be TOO LIGHT, [Daniel 5:27]"

the scale of measurement of his life read "ZERO", he was a starkly poor man, he thought he had on, some garments of great price, but alas, he was completely naked, poor and bankrupt.

What do you have today, that makes you think you worth something great?, is it GOLD or is it GRACE?.

Think about it...