POST 9 - Rich Fool Story

by William W. Orr, A.B., M.A., Th.B., D.D.. Pastor and Teacher.

     One day our Lo9rd was speaking to a multitude of people (Luke 12:16-34).  In the middle of His message a man in the audience interrupted Jesus.  He stood up and asked the Lord to adjust a family matter concerning an inheritance.  Jesus took this opportunity to point out the sin of covetousness and the folly of living merely for earthly interests.

     Christ then told this story.  A certain rich man was faced with a peculiar problem.  His current crop was so great and his riches so abundant that he had no place to store them.  So he had a conference with himself.  There were several alternatives.  He could share his bounty with the poor; he could divide it with his family; he could give it to the Lord's work.  But his decision was an extremely selfish one.  He would tear down the inadequate barns, build greater ones, and keep on hoarding it all for himself.  Thus his continuing and increasing prosperity would furnish him luxury, extreme ease, and the good life for years to come.

     But this man had overlooked a vital factor.  He had forgotten that God is the Author and Giver of all good gifts.  He failed to realize that riches spell responsibility.  He had neglected the fact that he must give an account of himself to his Maker.

     God's answer to the rich man's decision was a never-to-be-forgotten one.  The Lord said, "Thou fool."  When God calls a man foolish, we should listen carefully.  This fellow was a fool in many ways, but particularly in thinking that he had unlimited time -- that he had many more years in which to live and accumulate more of the world's goods.  The truth, however, was known to God.  This man was to die that very night. And he did.

     Here is truth worthy of earnest meditation.  God is immanent in the affairs of men.  He his the Controller of life.  When God says that a man's soul is required or demanded of him, that is the end of his earthly life.  But it is not the end of the next life.

     The inference is that the rich man went into hades immediately without any of his possessions.  All his material riches were left behind.  In due time, there must be an accounting before the Judge of all the earth.  And during the eternal ages the rich man spends in hell, the question of the Lord will ring unceasingly in his mind:  "Whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?"

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