Death doesn’t care about age or wisdom or wealth.”
–Donald L. Robertson (Five Women and the Star)
“The blessing of the Lord brings [true] riches, And He adds no sorrow to it [for it comes as a blessing from God].”
–Proverbs 10:22(Amplified)
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The parable in Luke 12:13-21 is one that we should look at very closely. It does deal with wealth, but more importantly it deals with man’s vales, his priorities of life.
16 — Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17 — And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18 — So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
19 — And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”‘
20 — But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 — So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (NKJV)
The first priority we see in this man’s life is that of selfishness. “I will” is proclaimed six times. Recall the words of Lucifer in Isaiah, where he proclaims that “I will.” Here we see the preoccupation of self, the importance of self in his own eyes. His goal and purpose of living is that of self-indulgence. Not only greed, but he is also proud and he does not consider what he might have for the next life.
Then we see the idea of materialism. More, bigger, better, the next updated model, that’s what this man wanted. He would be the type to stand in line for the next gadget to come out so he could buy it, but would eagerly be waiting for next year’s model. We must understand that there is a difference between greed and planning for the future. Gary Inrig says, “The quality of the future he anticipates is directly related to the size of the barns he builds.”
We also see a life characterized by hedonism. He completely misses the point of Solomon’s message, “And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor–it is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 3:13, NKJV) Our blessings are a gift from God; he missed that concept altogether. Paul instructs us, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” (1 Timothy, 6:17, NKJV) “It is right to enjoy what we have; it is wrong to believe that self-indulgent pleasure is the goal of life.” (Inrig)
I want to finish today with a story shared by William Barclay, then come back to this parable in another devotion.
This is the story of a conversation between a young and ambitious lad and an older man who knew life. Said the young man, “I will learn my trade.”
“And then?” said the older man.
“I will set up in business.”
“And then?”
“I will make my fortune.”
“And then?”
“I suppose that I shall grow old and retire and live on my money.”
“And then?”
“Well, I suppose that some day I will die.”
“And then?” came the last stabbing question.
“The man who never remembers that there is another world is destined some day for the grimmest of grim shocks.” (Barclay)