Take Life Easy

And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

Luke 12:19

In marketing, there’s a concept called ‘attribution’. It simply means identifying what exactly caused an increase or decrease in sales. In marketing, you need to be able to attribute your growth or loss to understand what’s working and what’s not. Why? Because if you know what actions lead to growth, you can focus more on those efforts.

Why is this marketing lesson important? Yesterday, we saw from the parable of Jesus that “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest”. The Bible doesn’t say what the man did differently, but Jesus’ parable suggests the man couldn’t attribute the growth to anything specific and took credit himself. Remember what we said about attribution? When you attribute growth to something, logic dictates that you should focus more on that source. That’s exactly what the rich man did! He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

Oh! There’s one more thing about attribution that I forgot to mention, it is a good tool for forecasting as well. We typically say something like “Well, if spending $20 got us $100 sales then if we double our spend we can expect at least $200 (although this hardly happens in real life). The rich man did the same thing. He began to make forecasts about the future based on his intellect and power. He genuinely believed that he had the power to make wealth, to grow it, to keep it and to stay alive long enough to enjoy it. He might have been partially right about the first three, but the fourth was entirely out of his control.. Unfortunately, the rich man was so focused on attributing his success to himself that he ignored God. He lost everything when God took his life.

What about your attribution? Do you acknowledge God and give Him His rightful place in your life, or are you carried away by your own self-importance? The evidence of acknowledging a source of growth is how much attention you give it. Here are some litmus tests to see if you’re acknowledging God:

Is God getting a good share of your finances?

Is God getting a good share of your time and devotion?

Is God getting a good share of your skill?

It’s time to reflect again and ask yourself if God is truly your priority. 

PRAYER

Lord, I acknowledge You as the source of all blessings and the giver of every good and perfect gift. Forgive me for all the times I took credit for my achievements. Grant me the spirit of humility and help me cultivate a heart of gratitude. Amen.