Text: “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?’” (Luke 12:20)
Accountability is a word that many people do not understand. Some people do things and never give consideration to the fact that at some point, they will have to answer for their actions. Each one of us is responsible for what we do. Each of us will have to explain our actions to Almighty God.
There are people who do not believe that God is in control and that He knows every thing they do. He knows the good as well as the bad. They will carry on actions with the thought that no one will know. Other people may not know, but God does know.
When we do things contrary to His Word, we are accountable. Jesus tells us about a man, a rich fool, who had his priorities all out of order. He was very concerned about worldly things instead of divine things. He was interested in all he could get, what earthly possessions he could acquire, and how well off he would be with more stuff. This man was committing one of the seven deadly sins and that is the sin of greed
Story: “He Left It All”
A famous millionaire died of cancer. For weeks he suffered intolerable agony. Although surrounded by every luxury and receiving every possible care, he died as wretchedly as a pauper. There was the usual publicity, flowers, telegrams, an expensive bronze casket and a towering beautifully carved tombstone.
After the funeral a relative turned to another and said, “How much do you suppose that Harry left?” Back came the reply, “He left everything he had.”
Yes, Harry could take not one thing with him. He worked harder than a slave would. He grasped, saved, cheated, lied and where legally possible, he stole as he amassed his great fortune. He lived for self. He left all he had. He faced God without hope or plea. Harry was a poor fool. “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
-----------------------C. Leslie Miller, in Gospel Herald
At some time in life, we all fall into this frame of mind. When we are young and foolish, we think we need everything our eyes encounter. We fail to realize or understand or believe God when He says, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)
Many people are more concerned about worldly things and worldly stuff than their destiny. People make wills leaving their worldly possessions to certain individuals, charities, or churches. This is wonderful and good. A will is supposed to prevent family and friends from fighting over the possessions of the deceased.
Although the will is a good thing and follows the law, people still tend to want what they are not entitled to or what they think is theirs. There are people who have gone to court to acquire worldly possession. They sound like the man in the crowd who said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” (v. 13).
In this verse of Scripture, the one who spoke these words to the Teacher was probably the younger Jewish son who realized that his brother, being older, was going to receive a double portion of his father’s estate. It sounds as though the older son was not about to part with more of the inheritance than required. Both of these sons appear to be greedy with earthly possessions. The same thing goes on this very day.
Everything we have belongs to God. We own nothing. We are only given the privilege of using what God has provided. We are not to hoard things or stuff. When we do, we are placing these things before Almighty God. We are making these items our god. We are accumulating treasures on earth when in reality we should be accumulating treasures in heaven.
Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
Storing up material possessions on earth are earthly treasures. Storing up heavenly treasures comes about when we carry on acts of obedience to God. We are to follow the examples set before us by Jesus when He walked the face of the earth.
Jesus demonstrated obedience to His Father by being concerned with the needs of people. He was always willing to help those who were suffering physically as well as spiritually.
He healed the paralytic who was brought to him lying on a mat. Jesus said, “Take heart son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). He healed the paralytic physically and spiritually. His paralysis disappeared and his sins were forgiven.
Jesus was obedient to the Father when He reached out to people who were hungry. He fed the multitude of 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish (Matthew 14:13-21). He fed 4000 with 7 loaves and a few small fish (Matthew 15:32-38).
Jesus took care of their physical hunger and at the same time replenished their spiritual hunger. He was obedient to the Father and thus storing up treasures in heaven.
Are we willing to feed the hungry by whatever means we have? Are we willing to reach out with God’s Word to one who is lost? Are we willing to listen to the concerns of a brother or a sister? Are we willing to love those who appear to be undesirable? Are we willing to forget self and remember others? If we are, we are storing up treasure in heaven. We are being obedient to God’s Word. These are the treasures that will count when we stand before the heavenly Judge. These are the things that will be placed in our heavenly employee file.
When Jesus was asked to intervene in this inheritance issue, He said, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” (v. 14) Jesus could have intervened in this issue, but He was more concerned with divine or heavenly issues. An accumulation of earthly wealth is not what life is all about. The most important element in life is our relationship with our Creator.
You and I do take our problems and issues to God in prayer and that is good. Sometimes our requests are not granted by God because our thought or our attitude is not right. At times, God will answer our prayer, but not with the answer we are expecting.
God tells us the same thing He told the rich fool, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (v. 15). Jesus is saying that greed is not in line with His Word. We don’t need everything that comes our way or everything that looks good to our eyes.
Advertisers spend great amounts of money to inform people of all the things and gadgets they need. Advertisements are presented in a way which gives people the impression life will not proceed down the right road if they do not purchase a certain item. Happiness comes with owning the best, newest, and latest of all things.
A larger home will give you more space and make you more comfortable. The newest furniture will impress your friends when you socialize. The most expensive automobile will get you where you want to go, while making you appear great.
The latest in computers, phones, and other gadgets will keep you informed wherever you might be. You can get this great deal if you call within the next 10 minutes. Just put it on your credit card and we will send this to you immediately. Credit is not an issue.
“….one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (v. 15). Covetousness is a sin and will lead one down the wrong path of life. Covetousness places things first and God second. Covetousness brings about earthly treasures that cannot be taken out of this world. Covetousness will not lead to everlasting happiness.
God does not expect His children to live in poverty, but He does not want possessions to be first in one’s life. Money is a wonderful item and can produce marvelous service in man’s life when used properly. Wealth is not evil, but evil does enter the picture when it interferes with the spiritual and eternal destiny of man.
How much does one need or how much is enough? John Rockefeller was once asked how much is enough? His response was, “Just a little bit more!” There are people who are never satisfied with what they have; consequently, they keep wanting. Happiness does not consist in what we have, but in what we are.
The flesh does not live on forever, but the soul does. Earthly things will disappear, heavenly things will never disappear. Jesus warned us to “Take heed and beware of covetousness….”(v. 15).
Jesus tells the story of a rich young ruler who was greedy. He had much, but he wanted more. His life was good and he was comfortable, but he thought more would give him super comfort and make him happier. At the end of the story, we can judge as to whether the man ended up being happy.
“The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.” (v. 16) It sounds as though the man was a farmer or tiller of the soil. He probably had a large tract of land and the harvest was so plentiful that his barn would not hold all the crops.
It appears the man’s attitude was aimed in the wrong direction. Instead of thanking God for this wonderful blessing of abundance, his heart directed his thoughts in a selfish direction. “And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’” (v. 17)
He has been overly blessed, but yet his question sounds like he doesn’t have enough. It sounds as though the man is almost in despair or misery. Can’t you just hear the man give a great big sigh and say, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?”
As we said, the first thing he should have done is give God thanks and then ask God to direct him to people who were less fortunate and who could benefit from his bumper crop.
You and I fall into this same category as the rich man. There are times we are blessed, but we forget to give God thanks. At times we have more than we need, but we don’t ask God to direct us to people with whom we can share our blessing.
We make wrong choices. Making a wrong choice is not all bad as long as we learn something. If we ask God’s forgiveness and guidance and then obey His response, we will be able to have our error rectified. However, if we become greedy and continue to look to self, then we can expect disaster.
The rich man 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” (v. 18). This response was his first mistake. All the crops the ground produced were not his.
Everything belongs to God and are only loaned to us. His second mistake was to hoard or stockpile what was not his. Instead of sharing with God’s children, he only thought of building bigger barns.
The man had great expectations. “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’” (v. 19). The rich man had all he needed now. Why didn’t he just live in ease, eat, drink, and be merry now. Why did he have to wait until he tore down his present barns and built new ones before he could enjoy life?
We do this same sort of thing. Our thinking follows the same path as the thinking of this rich fool. We think a bigger house, new car, higher paying job, family raised and gone, and so on will place us in a position where we can begin to live and enjoy life. We should be living and enjoying every day because we never know when the Lord will call us home.
The rich fool could have lost all his crops to some disaster. Something could have invaded the crops and destroyed them. A strong wind could have blown the barns down. Lightening might have hit the barns and caused the crops to be burned up.
There are times we wait to take life with ease, eat, drink, and be merry. We make excuses like: money is short, body aches, car needs work, can’t get away from work, and the list goes on and on. We never know how much time the Lord will allow us upon this earth.
God said to the rich man, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (v.20). This is a sentence of death. God tells the rich fool that his soul will be “required”. The feeling is that the man will not peacefully give up his soul, but his soul will be taken from him by force.
The next thing to note is that this death will come by surprise. It will also come at night. A good man’s time of death is in the morning at which time he steps into the presence of Almighty God. This is a happy experience. The fool’s death will be like darkness.
The rich fool leaves everything worldly behind, because he can take nothing with him. His treasures are earthly and not heavenly. “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (v.21)
Conclusion:
Each one of us is accountable for what we do. The fool is just as accountable as is the man or woman of God. The story of the rich fool is about people who are more interested in earthly things than in heavenly things.
The rich fool lays up worldly treasures which are not favorable toward God. The rich fool does not understand what life is all about. The rich fool is more concerned about self and not about other people.
We are accountable for everything we do. One day we will stand before our Creator and we will have to give an account of our life here on earth. If we have taken Jesus as our own personal Lord and Savior and we have lived according to the “words in red”, He will see our name written in the Book of Life and we will spend eternity in His presence.
Amen.
