Expanding our Riches

Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. (Luke 12:18 NAS)

When a Canadian business decided it was time to expand to the United States, it thought it was the right way to move forward. According to an article of February 24, 2013 at FailFastSucceedFaster.com, Harry Rosen Inc., a Canadian chain of men’s high-end fashion stores, thought it had to grow to become a larger market player. So during the late 1980s or early 1990s, it made the decision to expand abroad. Shortly after it opened a store in Buffalo, New York, it discovered the retail scene in the United States was very different.

One of the biggest challenges Harry Rosen encountered was the need to constantly change who ran the store at Buffalo. The store was a very small part of the business, yet in order to get it to become successful, much attention was needed. In the late 1990s, the store was converted into a boutique as part of a business venture with Hugo Boss to open a number of stores in the United States. Business in Canada was thriving but operations in the United States were absorbing many of its key people and their attention despite losing money.

Eventually, in 2001, the decision was made for the business to exit the United States to refocus on its Canadian operations. Within two to three years, Harry Rosen recouped its losses and performed much better for its Canadian operations.

Like the story of Harry Rosen’s venture into expanding markets, Jesus told a parable of a rich man who contemplated to expand his barns to store more grain and goods (Luke 12:16-20). With the expansion, the rich man was hoping to lay up plenty of crops for many years and take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you.” So who would own what the rich man had prepared?

Expanding our business or financial standing is perfectly fine so long as we know the risks and are not storing up treasures for ourselves. Nevertheless, it is better for us to be rich toward God than toward worldly gains (Luke 12:21; Matthew 6:19-20). If we discover we are losing ourselves in this world or becoming too absorbed accumulating earthly riches, then we need to take steps to recoup by refocusing on God.

Let us never ever give up our love for the Lord (Revelation 2:4-5). Always remember the devotion of our youth, how we loved and followed Him (Jeremiah 2:2). Direct our focus on God that we may in all areas of our lives perform better (Hebrews 12:2-3; Isaiah 40:31). Fix our eyes directly ahead and our gaze straight. Give careful thought to the paths we take and stay steadfast in all our ways. Do not turn to the right or left; walk away from evil (Proverbs 4:25-27).

Dear Lord, thank You for the many blessings You have given us. We know that every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father. Help us be mindful Lord the Giver rather than the gift and not to expand our wealth to the point of losing ourselves. Restore us Lord as we refocus our lives and fix our eyes on You that we may once again devote ourselves to love You more and more every day.