Luke 12:16-21
"The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things 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 anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Webster's dictionary defines "fool" this way:
A person lacking in common sense
A harmlessly deranged person who lacks simple understanding
A clown kept in a large household for other people's amusement.
Jesus says in the sermon on the mount that anyone who calls another a fool will be in danger of hellfire. In other words, it’s a sin to call another person a fool (Unless they actually are a fool, of course.)
But what if God calls you a fool.?
What? How can a man who saves be a fool? Isn't the saving a good thing? Why would God call a decent, thrifty, hard working man a fool? Jesus did just that in this parable.
There are many good things that wealth can do for us. But when we depend upon it, it becomes a curse. In this parable. We can see five reasons this man accumulated wealth. From those five we may infer a sixth.
1. Money gives us safety. "What shall I do, I have no place to store my crops."
2. Money gives us a reason for living. "This is what I'll do"
3. Money gives self esteem. "I will say to myself 'you have plenty.'"
4. Money gives us future rest "take life easy."
5. Money gives us happiness. "Eat drink and be merry.
Behind these five, we can infer a sixth reason. Money buys us love. If we have money, we an be happy, and people will like us.
Safety. Self esteem. A reason for living. Rest. Happiness. Love. We are not fools for wanting these things. We'd be a fool not to want them. However, if any of these six things are conditional upon us having money, then we are doomed. Sooner or later, the money drug runs out, and we have to go a painful withdrawal.
We want to be safe. But what happens when we lose our jobs. Suddenly, we feel vulnerable. We stay up at night worrying about whether our car will break down, or someone might et sick.
We want to feel good about ourselves. But if the bank forecloses on our home, and we have to move into a winnebago in the woods and live off roots and berries, what happens to our self esteem? I goes right down the drain.
We want to eat, drink and be merry. But it's hard to do that when you are living off crackers, vienna sausages, and only had a deck of cards for entertainment.
When we look to money for any of these six things, then money no longer is a tool to happiness; It is our master. Money is not just our means of happiness. It becomes our master. It's like a drug.
Now, try to imagine what our lives would be like if we did not look to money for all these things. What if we could find them a difference way? How would our lives be different>
We could give away our money freely. We could all be cheerful givers.We could take life at a slower. We would not have to work so hard to make a living.We could not have to keep such big houses with big closets, and more sheds.We could have more time to enjoy your family.We could hold you head high anywhere. We would not envy the rich.
There is a way to be free of our need for savings. What’s more, it is free. Anyone who chooses to get those same benefits from savings that he can get free is a fool.
In Luke 16: 21, Jesus gives the moral of this story.
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
We may achieve the same results that we seek through savings by having a full, rich relationship to God. Instead of seeking for happiness from money, we seek for a greater source of happiness in God.
Do you know what drop shipping is? It’s a term people use who sell goods on the internet. It works this way—suppose you want to go in the business of selling Japanese watches over the internet. You could by a ton or so of Japanese watches, keep them in a ware house, and mail them to your customers. Or, you can order your watches one by one, and have them shipped directly to your customers. You keep the profit. That’s called drop shipping. You don’t have to have a single watch. You just have to know the source.
The person who is rich in God does not have to accumulate His blessings. He gets them directely whenever he wants them from the source. He places the order and it arrives immediately. This way the blessings never run out.
How can we live like that?
The Bible says that sin has cut us off from the supplier of all blessing. Because have not obeyed Him, God will not bless us. When we discover Jesus’ forgiveness, we can now receive directly from Him, and share his blessings with others. Jesus’ death on the Cross gives us access to God, storehouse.
But Jesus does not say we should just have access to him. He wants us to be rich in him. He wants us to learn, though constant communication with God, just how full and rich his blessings can be. Then the security we seek from material things will come to us directly from the supplier. We will know an endless supply of joy and happiness from the Sours of all supply.
So let’s try to imagine how we might become rich towards God. Let's rewrite the parable.
“A certain man lacked a good crop. He had neither money power of wealth.
“He said to himself. ‘How can I have what the rich man has?’
“So he says to himself. "Here's what I'll do. I will seek my riches from God. Instead of warehouses and barns, I will build install a dedicated phone line I my heart to God, and a loading dock for His blessings. I will regularly call and ask, and I will regularly receive. I will read His word, and so I will be regularly reminded fo how much He has already given me. I will tear down my small image of God and build a bigger one. I will take the small time I spend each day in the company of God and make it bigger. I will regularly receive shipments of blessings from God, and daily load my troubles on Him for return shipment. I will even drop ship His blessings to others through prayer. That way, I won't need a big warehouse: the blessings will come in daily and go out daily. Instead of living on stored blessings, I will live on renewable blessings that will not ever run out. In the security of His provision I will eat, drink and be merry. Then, if tonight I a suddenly die, I will go to be go to be with the Lord, who is the source of all I have or own. There I will enjoy what I have laid up for me there forever. "
Which of these two stories seems best to you? Would you rather depend upon the fickle security of this world, or know the eternal security of knowing God's hand on your life?
If you died tonight, what would happen to all your savings? How many of them could you take with you? Being prepared for death is the only sensible purpose in life. Are you ready?
"The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things 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 anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Webster's dictionary defines "fool" this way:
A person lacking in common sense
A harmlessly deranged person who lacks simple understanding
A clown kept in a large household for other people's amusement.
Jesus says in the sermon on the mount that anyone who calls another a fool will be in danger of hellfire. In other words, it’s a sin to call another person a fool (Unless they actually are a fool, of course.)
But what if God calls you a fool.?
God calls many people fools: atheists, blabbermouths, anyone who holds grudges and resentment, anyone who is bath-mouths another, anyone who fights with his relative, who cannot control his temper, who fights with his relatives, who does not forgive others, who doesn’t listen to advice, or anyone who does the same stupid thing twice. Also, a fool is anyone who becomes an addict or a drunkard. This is just the categories we find in the Old Testament. The New Testament goes farther than that.
Just when we think we understand what a fool is, then Jesus throw us a curve: A fool is a man who saves his money.What? How can a man who saves be a fool? Isn't the saving a good thing? Why would God call a decent, thrifty, hard working man a fool? Jesus did just that in this parable.
Understand, it’s not saving that makes a man a fool. It is why he is saving his money. It’s not a bad thing to have wealth. Neither is it a bad thing to accumulate wealth. The man is a fool who trusts in the wealth he has accumulated. If we think we can save enough money to keep us from harm, if we stake our future on what we have saved, then we are fool.
Wealth is an addiction. It behaves just like a drug. The more we have, the more we want. When we do not have it. The more we want it. If we don’t watch ourselves, wealth will take over our lives, just like a drug. There are many good things that wealth can do for us. But when we depend upon it, it becomes a curse. In this parable. We can see five reasons this man accumulated wealth. From those five we may infer a sixth.
1. Money gives us safety. "What shall I do, I have no place to store my crops."
2. Money gives us a reason for living. "This is what I'll do"
3. Money gives self esteem. "I will say to myself 'you have plenty.'"
4. Money gives us future rest "take life easy."
5. Money gives us happiness. "Eat drink and be merry.
Behind these five, we can infer a sixth reason. Money buys us love. If we have money, we an be happy, and people will like us.
Safety. Self esteem. A reason for living. Rest. Happiness. Love. We are not fools for wanting these things. We'd be a fool not to want them. However, if any of these six things are conditional upon us having money, then we are doomed. Sooner or later, the money drug runs out, and we have to go a painful withdrawal.
We want to be safe. But what happens when we lose our jobs. Suddenly, we feel vulnerable. We stay up at night worrying about whether our car will break down, or someone might et sick.
We want to feel good about ourselves. But if the bank forecloses on our home, and we have to move into a winnebago in the woods and live off roots and berries, what happens to our self esteem? I goes right down the drain.
We want to eat, drink and be merry. But it's hard to do that when you are living off crackers, vienna sausages, and only had a deck of cards for entertainment.
When we look to money for any of these six things, then money no longer is a tool to happiness; It is our master. Money is not just our means of happiness. It becomes our master. It's like a drug.
Now, try to imagine what our lives would be like if we did not look to money for all these things. What if we could find them a difference way? How would our lives be different>
We could give away our money freely. We could all be cheerful givers.We could take life at a slower. We would not have to work so hard to make a living.We could not have to keep such big houses with big closets, and more sheds.We could have more time to enjoy your family.We could hold you head high anywhere. We would not envy the rich.
There is a way to be free of our need for savings. What’s more, it is free. Anyone who chooses to get those same benefits from savings that he can get free is a fool.
In Luke 16: 21, Jesus gives the moral of this story.
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
We may achieve the same results that we seek through savings by having a full, rich relationship to God. Instead of seeking for happiness from money, we seek for a greater source of happiness in God.
Do you know what drop shipping is? It’s a term people use who sell goods on the internet. It works this way—suppose you want to go in the business of selling Japanese watches over the internet. You could by a ton or so of Japanese watches, keep them in a ware house, and mail them to your customers. Or, you can order your watches one by one, and have them shipped directly to your customers. You keep the profit. That’s called drop shipping. You don’t have to have a single watch. You just have to know the source.
The person who is rich in God does not have to accumulate His blessings. He gets them directely whenever he wants them from the source. He places the order and it arrives immediately. This way the blessings never run out.
How can we live like that?
The Bible says that sin has cut us off from the supplier of all blessing. Because have not obeyed Him, God will not bless us. When we discover Jesus’ forgiveness, we can now receive directly from Him, and share his blessings with others. Jesus’ death on the Cross gives us access to God, storehouse.
But Jesus does not say we should just have access to him. He wants us to be rich in him. He wants us to learn, though constant communication with God, just how full and rich his blessings can be. Then the security we seek from material things will come to us directly from the supplier. We will know an endless supply of joy and happiness from the Sours of all supply.
So let’s try to imagine how we might become rich towards God. Let's rewrite the parable.
“A certain man lacked a good crop. He had neither money power of wealth.
“He said to himself. ‘How can I have what the rich man has?’
“So he says to himself. "Here's what I'll do. I will seek my riches from God. Instead of warehouses and barns, I will build install a dedicated phone line I my heart to God, and a loading dock for His blessings. I will regularly call and ask, and I will regularly receive. I will read His word, and so I will be regularly reminded fo how much He has already given me. I will tear down my small image of God and build a bigger one. I will take the small time I spend each day in the company of God and make it bigger. I will regularly receive shipments of blessings from God, and daily load my troubles on Him for return shipment. I will even drop ship His blessings to others through prayer. That way, I won't need a big warehouse: the blessings will come in daily and go out daily. Instead of living on stored blessings, I will live on renewable blessings that will not ever run out. In the security of His provision I will eat, drink and be merry. Then, if tonight I a suddenly die, I will go to be go to be with the Lord, who is the source of all I have or own. There I will enjoy what I have laid up for me there forever. "
Which of these two stories seems best to you? Would you rather depend upon the fickle security of this world, or know the eternal security of knowing God's hand on your life?
If you died tonight, what would happen to all your savings? How many of them could you take with you? Being prepared for death is the only sensible purpose in life. Are you ready?
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