Today’s household object is the fridge-freezer and our Bible passage is Luke 12:16-21.
Not only do I remember the coal fire in my grandparents’ house, I also remember the pantry, a large long room which was always cold, so as to keep food fresh. In the days before fridge-freezers, the pantry was essential for preservation of food; my grandmother used to shop daily because it was impossible to keep food fresh all week. Nowadays, with the arrival of the fridge-freezer, we can keep and store food for months at a time, which greatly helps to reduce our workload.
Like the rich man in this parable, we in the West have an abundance of food and can store food for long periods of time. This is not the case in many other countries, and even in England, there are those who struggle to have enough food to live a week at a time, with food banks being used to help people who are struggling in this area. We do well to reflect on our abundance and to think of ways to use what we have to help others rather than simply accumulating more ourselves. God is concerned about justice and commands us to be generous towards the needy. We need to practise generosity, and not simply see our possessions as serving us.