AUGUST 24th
A CERTAIN RICH MAN (Continued)
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:16-21
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
In verse 20 above, God addressed the rich man as "thou fool." A fool is one without reason or a senseless one. Emphatically, it is one without God in the heart. As Ezekiel wrote, all the souls belong to God. "This night thy soul shall be required of thee." Jesus was showing how the rich man put all the emphasis and attention on his soul, heaping up goods to himself. Just when the rich man thought he had it all in control, he had to be reminded that his soul was not his own. The question was and now is, what if the Possessor asks for His souls back this night? If the Possessor requires the soul, then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? The vanity and shallowness of laying up treasure for oneself was then contrasted with richness toward God.
Following the parable, Jesus had a special note to add for His disciples. As Jesus had told them in another place, it was given them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God (Luke 8:10) Thus He continued: "And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls (Luke 12:22-24)? A sacred secret is in these verses. At the beginning of Luke 12, Jesus said in verse 3 as He was teaching on the Word, "Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." The word "closets" in verse 3 is the same as "storehouse" in verse 24. What should be in the storehouses that we are is Living Word (Christ) not material things that pass away. Christ is the true Bread of Life and all the Sustenance one needs. He shall be proclaimed upon the housetops (our renewed minds or saved souls)! Like King David, let each one say, "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord"!