Have you ever read the story of the rich man who was called a fool? His fields had produced a plentiful harvest—so much that he did not know what to do with it all. He said, “I will pull down my barns, and build greater....I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:18-1918And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. (Luke 12:18‑19)).
“But God said unto him, Thou fool” (verse 20).
What the rich farmer said is like a businessman today who says, “Well now, I have done well in business. I have worked hard to earn what I have, and now I have plenty in the bank-there is enough to last my lifetime. I shall take it easy the rest of my life.”
Nothing very wrong in that, is there? Nothing dishonest in hard work, nothing foolish in saving what he earned, nothing sinful in wanting to take things easy. Why, then, does the voice of God sound in his ears: “FOOL!”
He was a fool because he left God out. He made wise provision for his body, but he forgot his soul. He took care to see to his physical comforts, but he forgot about his soul’s future. He valued his body highly, but his soul at nothing. Because he did this, God called him a fool.
That night he saw his schemes for large barns and larger comforts fade away from him. He felt the things which he had wanted so much slipping away from him. What were his thoughts as he found himself sinking into eternity without God and without hope, with a soul unprepared to meet God?
When morning dawned, the harvest was there, the barns were there, but the man was gone.
While we know that this man was a sinner, we do not read that he was guilty of any great sin. God did not call him a fool for being a sinner; he was a fool because he left God out. Are you in danger of doing the same?
Your immortal soul is your most valuable possession. Though your body may die, your soul will live on. But where? Will it be in the Father’s house (heaven) or the lake of fire? Rest assured, if you leave God out, He will leave you out!