Have you ever read the story of the man who was called a rich fool? His fields had yielded so much that he did not know what to do with such a harvest.
"And he said, This will I do: 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, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." vs. 20.
Shall we put this into modern English? A businessman around town would say: "Well, now, I have done well in business. I have worked hard to earn what I have, and I now have plenty in the bank, quite enough to last my lifetime. I will take it easier than I have done in the past."
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 and call him a 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 while here, but he forgot that the soul lives forever. He valued his body highly, but his soul at nothing! Because he did this, God called him a fool. That night his soul was required of 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!
Are you a fool in God's eyes? Have you forgotten your own soul? 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. You are in danger of doing the same.
Your immortal soul is your most valued possession. Though your body may die, your soul will live on. But where? Will it be in the Father's house, or in the lake of fire? Oh, if you leave God out, He will have to leave you out!