“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:15-21).
Most of us are familiar with the story of the rich fool. Basically we could sum his story up as one who was greedy, covetous, and had “I” trouble. He had amassed great wealth When he no longer had places to store his treasure, he had a little talk with himself. He would build bigger places to store his wealth. He is planning an early retirement. God had something else in mind for this one whom He called a fool. The rich man was going to die. What good were all the treasures he worked so hard to obtain? They would be left for others to fight over and not appreciate.
The rich fool devoted his whole life gathering wealth and left God out of the equation. God had blessed him tremendously, yet he hoarded his material possessions, keeping them all to himself. In one of the many commentaries I poured over I found this statement: “…if we honor God with what He has given us, He will bless with more so that we can honor Him with more.” If only the rich fool could have come to terms with that.
When you are tempted to focus more on what you have than what you can give away, think on the following quotes.
“When a man dies he clutches in his hands only that which he has given away in his lifetime.” —Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” —Jim Elliott
Sue Winchester
Missouri
PRAY TOGETHER: How did God’s Word speak to you today? Were you obedient? Pray for continued growth a a follower of Christ.
