16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “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. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” ~ Luke 12:16-21
Today, we travel back to the response of the Lord Jesus to the man who had previously asked Him to settle his inheritance with his brother.
In v.16-17 we read, "And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops."
The Lord Jesus told this parable to reveal the dangers that lurk in the greedy heart. Here was a man who had a problem with too much wealth! People say that money does not satisfy, but it does satisfy if you want to live on a certain level. People who are satisfied only with the things that money can buy are in great danger of losing the things that money cannot buy.
Money is neither moral nor immoral. It is what we do with it that determines the outcome. The Lord Jesus said, "You can not serve God and money." And yet, we need it to buy food and pay our bills. It was at this point the Lord Jesus told a parable to get across the point this man needed to hear most.
This farmer saw his wealth as an opportunity to please himself. In this story, there is no indication he had no thoughts of others or of God. The Lord Jesus knew this man's motivation: selfishness. In fact, I count eleven personal pronouns in this parable. Then, the Lord Jesus concluded this man was a fool.
He was a fool because he wasn't building his life on the things that last into eternity. There are two things in this temporal world which will last forever: the word of God and people. When we get to heaven, we will then know the utter value of investing in these two, the word of God and the souls of people.
In v.18 we read, “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.’”
Now, there is certainly nothing wrong with following good business principles, or even with saving for the future. If my dad said it to me once, he said it to me a thousand times, "Son, save for a rainy day." But, we must be on our guard for selfishness that is cemented in covetousness or greed.
In v.19 we read, "And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."
This man lived alone, for when he had a conversation it was with himself. It would have been a little window into something good about this guy if he would have said, “I said to my wife,” or, “I said to my family.” But this man had conversations with himself. He was a loner.
This man lived in the singular, thought in the singular, had a conversation only with himself. And, he had it all. “Take life easy” means “retire.” “Eat, drink, and be merry” is what most people believe this life is all about. When we get to heaven, we will see things much different. Randy Alcorn once wrote, "Abundance isn't God's provision for me to live in luxury. It's his provision for me to help others live. God entrusts me with his money not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build his kingdom in heaven."
Then, in v.20 we read, "But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself."
Wealth cannot keep us alive when our time comes to die, nor can it buy back the opportunities we missed while we were thinking of ourselves and ignoring God and others. The Lord Jesus made it clear that true life does not come from an abundance of things, nor does true success or security. This man had a false view of both life and death. He thought that life came from accumulating things, and he thought his death was far away.
The greatest tragedy is not what the man left behind but what lay before him: an eternity without God! The man lived without God and died without God, and his wealth was but an incident in his life. God is not impressed with our money.
And the application of the story? The final point is driven home in v.21 where we read, “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Literally, he is mindless, because he hasn’t given consideration to his eternal condition. He lacked a personal relationship with God and his choices had not been redeemed through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. His sight was stunted to this earth.
The reality is, we probably aren’t going to live long enough to use all that God gives us. And, since that’s the case, we must be rich in reference to eternity and the souls of people.
To be rich toward God is to acknowledge gratefully that everything we have comes from Him, and then make an effort to use what He gives us for the good of others and the glory of God. Wealth can be enjoyed and employed at the same time if our purpose is influenced by the eternal.
It's foolish to be so concerned about materialistic satisfaction that we neglect reality, the essentials of walking with God and others. Hidden in all of this is this fact: in order to experience eternal life now, we must abandon ourselves to the Lord. To the degree that we abandon ourselves to Him will be the degree to which we will experience ZOE, eternal life, now.
