2188 Parable of the Rich Fool

Luke 12: 16-21

Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

What if the things God has blessed you with slowly become the things you live for?

Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a Uhaul? No – you truly can’t take it with you. Everything you’ve ever bought – everything you’ve ever built – everything you’ve ever worked for – it will all be gone in an instant when you take your final breath. And my friend, I assure you of this – your final breath is coming. One day you will wake up, and it will be your last. You may not know it, but that day will come – and when it does only heavenly things will matter. Every earthly thing will be over.

But while we’re here having our earthly experience, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in our earthly things. It’s so easy to allow this entire life to become about work – about earning, about building, about buying, about having. All while we forget the entire point of our existence – this is our opportunity to have a rich relationship with God.

The one who created you wants you to know him. The one who imagined you, designed you, and knit you together cell by cell in your mother’s womb – the one who watches over you, the one who aligns good plans for you, the one who is always working all things together for good concerning you – he has given you this time to grow to know him, trust him and love him.

Everything else is temporary. Everything else is either a bonus – or it’s a distraction.

In this story, there’s nothing wrong with the man being rich. He had a fertile farm. Guess where that fertile farm came from? That was God’s creation. God made that land. God allowed that land to be fertile.

And that land produced fine crops. That’s a blessing. But here’s what those blessings did – they created wealth for this man and that wealth became a problem for him. He was so successful that he didn’t even have room to store all his crops. So o