4/7/21

"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 all 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 many 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 12:16-21)
A "parable" is a simple, everyday, story used to illustrate a moral or a spiritual lesson.
In this passage, Jesus uses an entrepreneur in a parable.
He is already rich. (v. 16)
He has a "wind-fall", so he becomes even richer! I don't think that there is much wrong with some one working hard, and making money. The Lord intended that we become industrious, and provide for ourselves. So, money is not evil! It is the love of money that is the root of all evil! (I Timothy 6:10)
So, what's this parable about?
This man was selfish! Add this to his selfishness, He invested nothing in heaven! Everything he had was invested in this world, and for himself.
He said:
1) "What am I going to do? I have no more room for the things that I have!"
2) "I know what I'm going to do. I will tear down all of my storage facilities, and build bigger ones."
3) "Then, I will sit back, eat, drink, and be merry, for many years!"
He says nothing about heaven. All he is thinking about is living here. My friend, you aren't here for very long! But, you will live in eternity for, well, eternity!
What if he had said:
1) "Honey, come sit down with me at the ding room table, and let's talk about how God has blessed us. We need to do something with this for Him."
2) "We have more than we need, let's find someone that has a need, and help them."
3) "Let's send a gift to St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and let's give a donation to "Mission Dignity".
4) "I'm going to join the local Gideon's International group, and going to help plan a mission trip at the church for this summer."
5) " Since I don't have to work so hard, I'm going to start going to the nursing homes, and visit with the residents, there. Maybe they need some company, and a cheerful word from the Lord."
6) "And one more thing, I don't won't any plaques, or any buildings named for me, either."
This parable was not about being rich, it was about being poor in heaven! (By the way, you can be poor on earth, and be poor in heaven, too.)
We can become blinded to the fact that we are not going to live here forever. No one ever has! Statistics say that one out of every one dies!
This poor rich fool thought that he had many years. He did not know that his time had already run out. And all the things that he had stored in those great big barns stayed here. They now belonged to someone else.
As God blesses you, bless Him back. Be rich unto God. (v. 21) I believe that the only things you get to keep are the things that you give away.
From my heart to your heart.