Morning Cup of J(esus)
Fueling the Day!
Building Bigger Barns
13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “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. 17 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. 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.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
The Parable of the man who wants to build bigger barns is often called the parable of the rich fool. The backdrop for this parable is a request from someone in a crowd that Jesus “tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replies that material abundance is not what makes one’s life.
Then He spoke the parable. The rich man was very successful by any standards, and had plenty to spare, but there was no place to store it all. This seems like an American problem with our modern day consumerism. But it really is a human problem. We want, want, want, and then we have to figure out what to do with it all that stuff. Wealth in itself is not the issue, but the man thought he could eat, drink, and be merry with no thought about eternity. He accumulated this world’s goods while neglecting the riches of eternity. God had other plans. His soul was required that very night, and although he had wealth on this earth, he was poor going into eternity. Mark 8:36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul.
Photo credits: Pexels-David Bartus & Ioana Motoc