Fool!

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." ' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." – Luke 12.16-21

I remember an ad on television a few years ago. It opened when a family was faced with the dilemma of having far too much stuff. It has falling out of everywhere. The presses, wardrobes, and closets were all so full they could take nothing more. So they looked for a solution.

What did they come up with? Buy Rubbermaid storage containers! Once they had everything organised they realised they had more room. ‘What are we going to do?  one of them asked. They said in unison – ‘MORE STUFF!!’

That ad always reminded me of this parable. This rich man had so much stuff and his crops were so plentiful that he decided to tear down his barns and build new ones so that he had room for MORE STUFF!!

‘Ah, now I can take it easy. I can eat, drink, and me merry because me and my stuff are safe.’

Jesus had one response to that kind of attitude – ‘Fool! You have all this stuff gathered together and tonight you are going to have to give an account of your soul. Anybody who lays up treasures for himself is not rich toward God.’

That is kind of blunt, but the message is clear. You are a fool if you focus on your ability to get more stuff and live to get it. There are not many other times – I can’t think of any off the top of my head – when Jesus calls someone a fool.

That tells me that a whole lot of us are acting like fools. Our focus on stuff is obvious. The passage goes on to tell us that of we are seeking God’s righteousness we can trust Him to take care of everything else.

Do our lives reflect faith or foolishness? Only each one of us can answer that question.