Luke 12:20

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.

19 And 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.” ’

20 But 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.

23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

24 Consider 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?

25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

26 If you then are not able to do the least, why¹ are you anxious for the rest?

27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even ^aSolomon in all his glory was not¹ arrayed like one of these.

28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of ^alittle faith?

29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.

30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father ^aknows that you need these things.

31 ^aBut seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

32 “Do not fear, little flock, for ^ait is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

33 ^aSell what you have and give ^balms; ^cprovide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.

34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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What Does Luke 12:20 Mean?

Luke 12:16-20

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.

Martin G. Collins
Overcoming (Part 8): Self-Indulgence

Luke 12:13-31

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.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Rich Fool

Luke 12:18-20

This sudden cutting short of the rich man's career expresses, not only the folly of assuming one knows what the future holds, but also of staking one's whole life on what may disappear at any moment. God calls this man a fool because he reasoned that his life of secure and abundant earthly enjoyment was the pinnacle of human success and happiness. A fool is a person without good sense or mental sanity, one who lacks a commonsense perception of the reality of physical and spiritual things (Luke 11:39-41; Jeremiah 17:11). The true reality is that everything depends on what God wills, not what man plans (James 4:13-17).

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Rich Fool

**Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Luke 12:20:**

Matthew 13:7
Matthew 13:22
Matthew 24:36
Luke 6:24
Luke 12:13-31

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