The Greedy Machine

The Greedy Machine

Bible Blast: Read Luke 12:15-21

He said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Luke 12:15

Once upon a time, there was an extremely bad famine in Germany, and the people were very hungry. One kindhearted, wealthy man took a basket of twenty loaves of bread to the courtyard where twenty children were playing. He said, “Children! I have a gift for you! In this basket you will find one loaf of bread for each of you. Take one and come back here tomorrow. I’ll give you a loaf of bread every day until this famine is over.”

The starving children fought over who got the largest loaf. Then they ran away without even saying thank you—all except for one little girl, Gretchen. She waited patiently until the other children grabbed their bread. Then she quietly reached into the basket and picked up the last tiny loaf. She thanked the man over and over for the food.

The next day Gretchen and the other kids were waiting for the bread. And once again, the other children acted like animals as they grabbed the biggest loaves from the basket. After the other kids were gone, Gretchen reached in and took the last loaf again. It was really small, not even half the size of the other loaves that had already been taken. She thanked the man again and took the bread home to her mom.

When her mother cut the tiny loaf of bread, six shiny silver coins dropped out of the center. Her mom said, “Gretchen! You need to go immediately and return this money to that gentleman! There has been a mistake!”

Gretchen did as she was told, but when the man saw her with the coins in her hand, he said, “No, dear girl. That wasn’t a mistake. I had the silver baked into the smallest loaf of bread as a reward for you. You were content to have one small loaf of bread instead of fighting for the bigger loaves. This is your reward for not being so greedy.”

Greediness is a nasty thing. It makes people fight over things. It causes jealousy. It keeps people from giving freely. A greedy way of life is not a life that will be blessed by God.

Girl Gab: Pray this prayer today: “Lord, help me to guard against every kind of greed. Remind me that life is not measured by how much I own. Amen.”