Story told of this wealthy person who lived in Scottish Highlands, he was richly endowed with worldly goods. Stately mansion, overlooking a beautiful valley.  There was a basic emptiness in his life. He had no religious beliefs; he was possessed by his possessions. At the entrance to his estate lived his herdsman, John. John was a man of simple faith and deep religious commitment. He was a regular churchgoer. One morning as the Rich man was looking out at the valley, the doorbell rang, it was John. John was invited in and told the rich Lord that he had a dream that the richest man in the valley would die at midnight and he felt he should tell him. The Rich Lord said he did not believe in dreams and told John to forget about it. During the day the words kept bothering him so much that at 11.00 he visited his GP. After a thorough examination his GP told him that he was a fit as a fiddle and he would give him 20 more years. Still doubting he invited the doctor to his house that night for dinner. At midnight when he saw he was still alive he saw the doctor to the door and as he went up the stairs he murmured: ‘silly old John, he upset my whole day. He was only after getting into bed when the doorbell rang and when he answered it he recognised the grief stricken girl as John’s teenage daughter. Mammy sent me to tell you that Daddy died at midnight. At that moment he realised who the richest man in the valley was. Today in the gospel we are faced with a choice. Put your trust in God or put your trust in worldly possessions. We must make a choice. It’s difficult. When we are eating out and the dessert comes we do not know whether to choose the cheese cake or the black forest, one way around this dilemma is: a little bit of both. This is not the way out for the Christian. The follower of Christ must make a choice: God or money. Christianity is life’s main course. There is an inbred desire in each of us to search for security. What is the foundation of our security? Material possessions or God.  Do I trust God? Have I handed my life over to him confident that he will give me a new life? Material possessions are there and they should bring us closer to God, unfortunately today so many people entrust themselves to their worldly possessions and they are drawn further away form God.

C.S. Lewis summarises all when he says: ‘In the end if we have not chosen God, then it will not matter what else we have chosen’.