“The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And 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. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”—Luke 12:10-2110And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. 11And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 12For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. 13And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18And 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. 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:10‑21).
What precedes this parable, and the last sentence of it, explain its meaning. One had come to the Lord Jesus, requesting that He would speak to his brother, that he should divide the inheritance with him. Our Lord would have nothing to do with the matter, but cautioned His hearers against covetousness: “for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” And he then spake to them the parable of this foolish rich man, whose thoughts did not reach beyond present enjoyments. “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” But that night his soul was required of him, and he neither enjoyed the things he had laid up, nor had he anything beyond this present life.
The Lord adds this salutary lesson: “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” This rich man had self as his object: he said, “my” goods, “my” fruits, and had no thought of being God’s steward, and was influenced by just what a natural man would call wisdom and prudence. He had acquired a nice, snug independency, and was now going to enjoy himself. Ah, but God called him “a fool,” and said to him, “this night” in answer to his “many years.”
Thus we see there are two objects before the souls of men—self, and God. Those in the kingdom profess to have God before them; then they must not have self as their object. Our Lord follows the parable with the exhortation to consider the ravens, to consider the lilies: God feedeth the one, and careth for the other. He knoweth that we have need of such things. We are rather to seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to us. And then He goes on to say, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:33, 3433Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. 34For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:33‑34).)
How necessary a lesson for us all! While professing to have no treasure here, our treacherous hearts may lead us to be too much engaged with our earthly blessings, our comfort, and our ease, rather than that which is being “rich toward God.”