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Chapter 20 - Rich Fool
Luke 12:16-19
16 And [de] he spake [epo] a parable [parabole] unto [pros] them [autos] , saying [lego] , The ground [chora] of a certain [tis] rich [plousios] man [anthropos] brought forth plentifully [euphoreo] :
17 And [kai] he thought [dialogizomai] within [en] himself [heautou] , saying [lego] , What [tis] shall I do [poieo] , because [hoti] I have [echo] no [ou] room where [pou] to bestow [sunago] my [mou] fruits [karpos] ?
18 And [kai] he said [epo] , This [touto] will I do [poieo] : I will pull down [kathaireo] my [mou] barns [apotheke] , and [kai] build [oikodomeo] greater [meizon] ; and [kai] there [ekei] will I bestow [sunago] all [pas] my [mou] fruits [gennema] and [kai] my [mou] goods [agathos] .
19 And [kai] I will say [ereo] to my [mou] soul [psuche] , Soul [psuche] , thou hast [echo] much [polus] goods [agathos] laid up [keimai] for [eis] many [polus] years [etos] ; take thine ease [anapauo] , eat [phago] , drink [pino] , and be merry [euphraino] . KJV-Interlinear
16 And He told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a certain rich man was very productive. 17 'And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' 18 'And he said, 'This is what I will do: 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 many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.' NASB
We need to make a couple of points here initially, drawing from a couple of verses.
Hos. 2:8
8 'For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, NASB
Eccl. 5:10
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. NASB
The more men have, the more perplexity they have with it. When they lack wisdom, then the absurd and the foolish occupy their thoughts.
Here we see that nothing we have came from our own efforts. God provides us with everything. Sure we all go to school, we all get up in the morning and go to work and come home, and we work and slave, and cry and sweat and bleed for all we have. And it is very easy to conclude that it is from our own efforts or from luck that we have the things we have. Not so.
Recall the Divine Decrees briefly. I have a chart on that concept on the Index page. Review it when you can. In eternity past, God the Father sat down with the Son and the Spirit and hammered out a plan for history. The Father considered an infinite number of possible histories, all of which included all the minute details of life and the circumstances of life. Each one of us were considered along with all the things that we would interact with in life, and be influenced by in life including other people in our lives, the historical setting we are born into, the social setting, the economical setting, etc., etc.
For example, if you are in sales, then God would make certain that there would be an employer to hire you, customers who would come along to buy from you, products that would have been invented and made for you to sell, and so forth. He did this (organized the details) for every human being who will ever live.
Gods Plan is so extremely detailed that nothing in life is left out.
So, this does not mean that you can sit life out and just sleep on the porch and let God bring you breakfast in bed everyday. God still gave you volition and He has assigned responsibility to you as well.
Remember too our study from yesterday. We are not here to remain here on earth forever. We are here to prepare for eternity. Everything we have and do in this life is just logistical support such that we can survive in life for the purpose of learning Gods Word.
To some God gives much. To some God gives little. No matter what your situation is, if you are alive and breathing, then God has a plan for your life, and that plan is not to accumulate things. That plan for your life is to grow up spiritually to maturity.
God certainly gives us all a temporal mission. He gives us all varying IQ's, varying degrees of beauty, varying measures of health. These are all details of life. Some of us have great wealth. Most of us have little wealth. Again, these are merely details of life, and the details of life are not life at all. They are just an environment in which God has placed us, knowing that we are able to cope with our specific situation, and through our advancement to spiritual maturity, God then proves to all that He is able to bring anyone and everyone from any situation in life to spiritual victory.
Those who fail, do so because they have the wrong attitude and they simply reject Gods wisdom.
Here we have a rich man. He has valuable and productive property. He has great income from his property. Instead of thanking God for that blessing, he asks himself what can he do with it (for himself). He is selfish and greedy. A poor person could ask the same question as to what he might do for his next meal, but a rich person who is greedy has no right to languish over his wealth especially when God has provided it all for Him.
God does not wish to see us all lose that which we have been given. But God will look into our soul to examine our motives, and our desire to comply with His wishes.
To whom much is given, much is expected. God gives us all that which we need in order to be happy in life. Happiness does not come from things but from Gods word in the soul (spiritual maturity). When God gives us great wealth, then our first question is for what purpose are we given this wealth. There are four obvious answers.
First, to help support and promote the teaching of Gods word. Second, to help others in need through charity. Third to provide employment or some form of economic enhancement for others. Fourth, to reinvest wisely such that the income production will continue, in order to satisfy the first three things. And if you want to add a fifth benefit, then it would be your own comfort because you are certainly due enjoyment from the production which God has given your life.
The above is simply the rich mans earthly function. Incorporated into everyone's life must be a daily Bible study. The rest simply supports ones own daily life, and that of others. And that support is necessary so that you can study Gods Word and learn and grow up. You have to have food, shelter, an education, a job, and so forth in order to live in this world. And that all gives you an opportunity to prepare yourself spiritually. Some understand this and pursue their spiritual life. Most could care less, and so they ignore their eternal future.
This rich man was so tuned into his wealth, that he did not consider his obligation to God, or to others. He only wanted more and more, as though his assets would bring Him better health or even extend his life in some way. That is, if you don't think of death, then it won't apply to you. Seems simple enough.
You do not have to be rich to suffer from this human flaw. Poor folks can be just as greedy, just as indifferent. It is very easy to put off ones obligations by justifying that you don't have enough for yourself, and anyway, someone else will take care of your share. But that attitude ignores the fact that God is not interested in the volume of your obligations, but in your attitude. Giving one dollar when you are poor, can be infinitely greater, than a rich man giving millions when he only wants public notice for it.
Attitude, and orientation to God, and Gods plan, and exactly where everything comes from in life, will get you further along in your spiritual life, and life will be much more pleasant for you. God will provide today. God will provide tomorrow. When you remain responsible in your life, then Gods care will see you through everything. When you become irresponsible, then God will allow you to fall on your face.
The rich man had so much that he even became ridiculous. Tearing down the old barns in order to build bigger ones. Anyone who has much can always build additional barns and use them from year to year for any surplus that might come along. But here the implication is that the old barns are insecure, and the newer barns will be more secure such that they can keep the goods from being stolen. Greed in is full view.
Not only does the rich man not want to fulfill his responsibilities before God, but he doesn't want anyone to benefit from his wealth. Only himself.
And one last verse.
James 4:13-15
If the Lord will, I shall live.
Your life depends totally on Gods will for your life. You have absolutely no control over your life, and especially no control over the moment of your death. Remember that we are all here courtesy of Gods grace. We have been given an opportunity to advance in our spiritual life. And that simply means that we have an opportunity to define our new life in heaven.
In this life, none of us had an opportunity to define the circumstances of our life, before we were born. You could not choose the genetics of your body. You could not choose your parents. Your could not choose your environmental circumstances.
But in the next life you have every opportunity, now, to define your eternal future. That is done simply by fulfilling your spiritual obligations before God - to study, to learn, to grow, to obey, and so forth. You can pursue them vigorously or not. God has given you the option of failure, too.
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