Scripture:
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:15-21
Devotional Thought:
Jesus tells the story of a man who had an extraordinarily good year. His land produced abundantly — more than he had room to store. He had a problem most people would envy. So he made a plan: tear down the old barns, build bigger ones, store everything, and then settle in for a life of ease. “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”
It sounds like success. By every measurable standard, this man had won. And then God speaks, and in a single sentence unmakes every calculation: “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
Note what God does not say. He doesn’t say the man was wicked. He doesn’t say the abundant harvest was a sin or that planning for the future is wrong. The indictment is precise: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Full hands. Empty soul.
The rich fool’s failure was the failure of ultimate allegiance. His entire inner monologue — “I will do this, I will build, I will say to myself” — was organized entirely around himself. God was not in the conversation. Eternity was not in the conversation. Other people were not in the conversation. It was just him, his stuff, and his comfort.
This is the end state of empty success: a life that is full by the world’s accounting and bankrupt before God. Esau ate his soup and was satisfied. For a moment. The rich fool built his barns and felt secure. Until he wasn’t. The invitation of Jesus is not to have less, but to be rich toward God — to hold everything we have with an open hand, in service of something larger than ourselves.
Reflection Questions:
1. What “barns” are you building — the accumulations, achievements, and securities — that might be substituting for genuine richness toward God?
2. What would it look like in your daily life to hold your resources, reputation, and plans with an open hand rather than a closed fist?
Application:
Practice open-handed living in one tangible way today: give something away, serve someone without agenda, or surrender a plan you’ve been gripping tightly. Let the act be a prayer.