Gospel

Don't Be A Rich Fool

by Roland Crim
03/27/17
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And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 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 my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’“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?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21 NIV

The fact that this rich man’s ground yielded him an abundant crop is not what causes him disdain from God. His attitude about the blessing which he had received is what bothered God. This man should have truly recognized the blessing which he had received from God, and made a generous offering back to God, recognizing that it is through God’s grace that he received that which he did. This man however turned to an attitude of greed. One who is greedy with material possessions will not find favor with God.

Remember that Christ tells us about the difficulty a rich person will have in entering the kingdom of heaven. It is not having the riches that is the problem. It is the reliance and dependence on those riches rather than relying and depending upon God which is the issue. To have an abundance of material possessions so easily brings with it an adoration to those material possessions and a reliance on them. This blocks having the needed relationship with God. One truly cannot serve two masters. If we do not totally turn ourselves over to the care of God, relying upon Him for that which we need, then we do not have the relationship with Him that we truly need.

Do not allow material possessions to get in the way of your relationship with God. Get rid of stumbling blocks which keep you from Him.