When a listener in the crowd asks Jesus to instruct his brother to divide the inheritance equitably, Jesus declines, saying life is not based on many possessions. He uses the occasion to teach His disciples that a godly life is more important than material things, telling the Parable of the Rich Fool as a warning against every kind of covetousness. In the parable, a rich man builds ever-larger barns to store his crops and goods. Having everything he could want, he focuses on easy living. God calls him foolish, because when he dies that night, his goods will do nothing; someone else will inherit and enjoy them. A person caught up in possessions is not rich toward God.
Luke 12:16-17
Human nature tends to value the wrong things in life—to eat, drink, and be merry—things without eternal worth. Because of this temptation, people's main anxiety concerns accumulating this world's luxuries. The rich man may even have been embarrassed by his inability to store his hoarded wealth, but he never considered using his riches for the benefit of others. Irishman Jonathan Swift observed, "Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches as to conceive how others can be in want." A generous person, however, sees the needs of others first (Proverbs 11:25-26; 22:9). We should sow goodness and generosity so we will reap the same (Galatians 6:7-10).
Self-indulgence promotes, among other things, attitudes of fanaticism, false security, presumption, and fun-seeking. Fanaticism is unbridled obsession, and though most do not recognize it as form of self-indulgence, it is a gratification of selfish desire. The apostle Paul says that we should avoid those who are driven by lust and greed and have no self-control.
In Luke 12:13-21, a listener in the crowd surrounding Jesus asks Him to instruct his brother to divide the inheritance due to him equitably. Jesus declines, saying that life should not be based on having many possessions. He uses this occasion to teach His disciples that a godly life is more important than material things. To explain this, He tells a parable about a rich man who builds larger and larger barns to store all his crops and goods.
Since he had everything he could possibly want or need, the rich man's focus was on living an easy life. God's response is that the man was foolish because, when he died later that night, his goods would do nothing for him. Someone else would inherit and enjoy them. A person whose life is caught up in what he owns is not rich toward God. The Parable of the Rich Fool illustrates Jesus' teaching to guard against every kind of covetousness.
When a listener in the crowd asks Jesus to instruct his brother to divide the inheritance equitably, Jesus declines, saying life is not based on many possessions. He uses the occasion to teach His disciples that a godly life is more important than material things, telling the Parable of the Rich Fool as a warning against every kind of covetousness. In the parable, a rich man builds ever-larger barns to store his crops and goods. Having everything he could want, he focuses on easy living. God calls him foolish, because when he dies that night, his goods will do nothing; someone else will inherit and enjoy them. A person caught up in possessions is not rich toward God.