14 But He said to him, a“Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”
15 And He said to them, a“Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18So 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.
19And I will say to my soul, a“Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; beat, drink, and be merry.” ’
20But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night ayour soul will be required of you; bthen whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, aand is not rich toward God.”
Do Not Worry
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, ado not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.
23Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
24Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and aGod feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?
25And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
26If you then are not able to do the least, why1are you anxious for the rest?
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.
