And [Jesus] told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
The world (and most Christians) would look at the guyabove and say, “There’s a wise guy. That‘s the guy I should ask for financial wisdom from. He obviously is making all the wise decisions because God has blessed him so much.” We would praise such a man, call him a genius financial advisor. But you know what God calls Him?
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
A fool.
Fool.
Friends, that single word brings tears to my eyes. God called him a fool. Why? Because he “laid up treasures for himself and was not rich toward God.” A fool.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. (Jim Elliott)
Think of it this way.
You and I are going to be called a fool by someone.
We’ve had more than one person look at our recent financial decisions and shake their head at us: “Foolish.”
We can live by God’s economy, refuse the empty promises of materialism and wealth, and store up treasures in heaven. If we do this: The world will call us fools.
Or, we can save, hoard, aim for bigger and better, pad ourselves with insulated walls of wealth. The world will praise us for our financial savvy, the world will call us wise. But, someday God will call us fools.
Who, dear friends, will call you a fool?
I know one thing for sure: I do not want God to call me a fool.
Let’s desperately seek His ways and His wisdom. {Thanks for reading.}
Reminded afresh of this lesson from last year…