Would you like to be called a fool? I don’t think any of us would. I expect, though, that each of us can remember when we did or said something foolish. Even though we all have to admit that we have done foolish things, none of us would like to be called a fool. And we probably aren’t, either... unless we go on acting foolishly.
In the Bible there are at least three places where God calls someone a fool. Two of these are in the Old Testament — “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psa. 14:1); “Fools make a mock at sin” (Prov. 14:9). A third is in the story we read in the New Testament in Luke 12.
As we think about the two verses in the Old Testament, we can easily see why these people are called fools. To act as if there were no God is really foolish. And if people laugh at the thought of sin, they also are fools. Unfortunately, young people as well as older folks are often guilty of both of these things. How sad it would be if God had to call you a fool.
The farmer that we read about in Luke 12 was called a fool. Let’s look for the reason why God called him that.
This farmer was a hard worker. He must have been a good farmer, taking care of his land so that his ground produced fine crops. (Now this doesn’t seem like a reason to be called a fool, does it? If you have ever lived on a farm or worked on one, you know how hard farmers have to work to get good crops from their land.)
So this farmer in the Bible became rich, and he had earned his riches honestly. He also had made sensible plans for the future. (Nothing wrong with that, was there?) This particular year his harvest was so good it broke all records, and he found he did not have enough space to store his grain. So the sensible thing to do (we might think) was to build a bigger barn and storehouse. Very likely, in the eyes of his neighbors he was a good, honest, hard-working, prosperous farmer. I doubt if God condemned him for that.
Then why did God call him a fool? He had made one great, tragic mistake. He sat back and said to himself, “I can take it easy; I have everything I’ll need for many years to come, so I can just relax, spend my money, and have a good time.” He told himself that now he had everything he needed.
God called him a fool because he had prepared for this life only! He had left God completely out of his plans. He had made himself rich with the things of this world, but he hadn’t made preparation for the next. He was planning to live for many more years, but God told him he would die that night. He had forgotten that he could not take his riches with him when he died. What is important after we die is not what a person has, but if he knows the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour!
Remember that not one of us can be sure if we will be here tomorrow. But there is one thing that we can be sure of if we have accepted Christ as our Saviour. That is, if He were to come today or if we were to die suddenly, we would be taken to heaven to be with Him for all eternity.
Because you are young you may be tempted to tell yourself, “I’ll worry about those things when I’m older.” STOP AND THINK! God called that farmer a fool for doing that very thing. Be wise and accept Him now.
“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” Ecclesiastes 12:1.
“Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1.
ML-03/17/1985