Read the Parable of the Rich Fool from Luke 12:13-2
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
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.”
(1) Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
(2) Wealth provides no eternal security.
(3) God will put the arrogant in their place.
(4) Wealth that is not used wisely can be taken in an instant.
God called the rich man a fool because he lived for himself and put his trust in his wealth. However, all of his wealth was unable to buy him another day on Earth. He wasn’t able to take his wealth with him and it was left to another.
The rich man did not concern himself with the needs of other. Rather, he spent his wealth on his own leisure and comfort. He did not build treasure in Heaven and he did not put his trust in the Lord. Therefore, he is not spending eternity in Heaven. Sadly, the rich fool received the what he had prepared for himself–an eternity in hell.
Wealth can make your life on Earth more pleasant, but it cannot give you eternal security unless it is given back to God and used for His purposes. Make we all take to heart the lessons of the rich fool and put our faith and trust in God rather than money.
Susan's Reflections 