The Man God Called A Fool - The Parable Of The Rich Fool Series

But don’t we do the same thing today!

How do we look at the blessing in life that we have received? Do we think of God? Are we humbled that God has chosen us to receive such blessings?

We Are Fools When We Do Not Give God The Credit For Things He Has Done And…

Secondly, We Are Fools When We Make Plans But Leave God Out. (vv. 17-18)

"And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ (18) "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.”

There was nothing wrong with his desire to build more barns, it was both wise and prudent. The problem lays in the fact that there is no thought of sharing. In the original Greek the personal pronoun “my” occurs four times and “I” eight times. Even in the English we see the pronoun “I” five times and “my” four times. Notice he how he says my crops, my barns, my goods. He is confused between ownership and stewardship. He forgot that he was not the owner but only the possessor and the steward. All that had belonged to God. So it is with us, It is not ours to own it is ours on loan.

We Are Fools When We Make Plans But Leave God Out And…

Third, We Are Fools When We Live Only For the Moment. (v. 19) “ ‘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."‘

In this verse although he addresses himself as “soul” it is the physical life that he is really concerned about.

This man thought that when he put his plan into being that he would he would have it made for years to come. But all of this is based on the fact that this man expected to control the fate of future crops. He envisioned the future as continually expanding and under his control. But nothing could be further from the truth.

The book of James speaks to just such an attitude (4:13-16) when he says, “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; (14) whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. (15) Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."(16) But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” The Bible does not discourage us from looking to the future with great expectation. However as we make our plans, whether in business, in relationship or in our personal lives, we are to do so from the perspective that ultimately God is in charge. In other words, we need to plan with humility.

I wonder what this says about our American concept of retirement. I am not against retirement, I would like to be able to do so one day. But perhaps God would have us to look at it differently; perhaps to see it as a time when we have more free income and greater time on our hands than ever before to do some for the kingdom of God.

We Are Fools When We Live Only For the Moment And…