In your article entitled, “And All These Things Will Be Given To You As Well” you said, “No matter how we try to justify it, storing up is an act of selfishness”; I have to disagree. Of course the Bible speaks out about “hoarding” and “not sharing/helping others” but it also speaks out about preparing for possible rough times to come. I have attached an article by (another Christian writer) for your information. It’s about the lesson on preparation for hard times from the Famine of Egypt. It pretty much “hits the nail on the head” regarding the topic.
I think the writer ( and apparently you) missed the real meaning of the story of Joseph and the Famine of Egypt. To understand it, see how the story ended. Remember, this was a government mandated storage plan into which the people were required to contribute 20% of their crops during the good years. When the famine came they had to buy back the food they had contributed. When all was said and done, Pharaoh had taken possession of their money, their land, their livestock, their seed for the next crop, their very lives. He had reduced the people to servitude, totally dependent on him for their existence (Genesis 47:20-21).
At the end of the story the only free people left in Egypt were the 70 members of the family of Jacob (Joseph’s father). They had not contributed to the government sponsored storage plan, but had been blessed greatly. Beside Pharaoh and the priests they had become the only remaining landowners in all of Egypt. How did this happen? God had used this event to reconcile Joseph to His brothers. They sought him in their time of need, depended on him, and were blessed.
There are over 100 references in the Book of Genesis that show how Joseph’s life was a foreshadowing of the Lord’s. One lesson from the story of the famine is that it demonstrates His promise to us in the Sermon on the Mount.
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matt. 6:31-33).
In the soon coming hard times many of those who depend on the ways of the world will lose everything. But those who seek the Lord’s kingdom and depend on Him will be blessed.