The Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Observations and Reflections
There are many goals and achievements that we set for ourselves in this life. We want to strive to be the best that we can and be successful in doing so. We make plans and when we see our vision come to light, we can’t help but feel proud of our accomplishments. Furthermore, once we are successful, there is a part of us that wants to continue in our success.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be hard working and reach our goals. However, the problem enters in when we begin to be so fixated on gaining more that we loose sight of finding our true satisfaction on Jesus Christ. We become so immersed in our own thinking and as a result, we end up loosing ourselves to our earthly gain, instead of remembering that we have gained it all in our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Jesus warns those about what happens when you spend your whole life fixated on gaining more earthly treasures. Our thoughts and lives become distracted and grow addicted to wanting more. We slowly start to slip away from finding our joy in Christ and that is how sin begins to creep in. Messages of needing more money and recognition start to play in our minds and that is how we forget about the true treasure that we have in Christ Jesus.
Having earthly possessions are a true gift from God and a blessing. We need to always be thankful for what God has given us and never find our identity in material wealth. Our identity and riches are rooted in Jesus Christ and all that we have in this world is temporary. Pursue fixing your eyes on Jesus Christ and thank Him each day for the love and joy we have in Him.