Luke 12:13,15 (ESV) Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” … 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.”
The man that called out to Jesus, had an issue with his brother who wouldn’t give him his share of the inheritance. Jesus perceived that the man’s concern was an issue of covetousness. He was greedy and wanted to increase his wealth and possessions. He was focused on this life and not on eternity. He feared being poor in this life.To illustrate his point, Jesus told the crowd a story.
Luke 12:16-17 (ESV) 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?’
So, we have a man who was already rich, which means he had more than enough to provide for his own needs. His harvest was so great, that the barns he had were not large enough to contain it. As we look at the rich man’s thoughts, we see them focused not on God but on himself. There is no thought of giving thanks to God. No thought as to what God would have him to do. We will see where his self-centered thoughts will lead him in the next verses.
Luke 12:18-19 (ESV) 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.”’
In these two verses, the rich man speaks to himself about what he is going to do. God is nowhere in the mix. He uses I, my and soul ten times and looks forward to time of leisurely living. Nothing overtly sinful in his plans is there. So, what does God have to say about this rich man and his plans.
Luke 12:20-21 (ESV) 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.”
God calls this rich man a fool. Not because he was rich, but because he laid up treasures for himself. That very night, God would take the rich man’s life and he would not be spending eternity with God. Rather than laying up treasures on earth for himself, the man should have been laying up treasures in heaven for God.
This rich man forgot or never knew that every blessing he had in life was from God. This is true of every person on the planet, whether they are a believer or not. Since every blessing is from God, we ought to be thankful to him and acknowledge that everything we have is really God’s. God just allows us to use His resources for His purposes. And that is the key to laying up treasures in heaven.
Laying up treasures in heaven is simply using the resources that God has given to us for the purposes that God has for them. The money that you make on your job or the money you make from investing, is not yours. It’s God and He has a purpose for the resources that He has entrusted to you.The Bible says that we are stewards of God’s resources.When we use them for God’s purposes, we lay up treasures in heaven.If we use them for only what we want, we are being very foolish and not thinking of eternity. Those who fear poverty layup treasures on earth. Disciples who fear God layup treasures in heaven.
This morning we’ve learned a lot about the fear of the Lord from Jesus. The fear of the Lord sets us free from fearing anything or anyone else.The fear of the Lord gives us the power to boldly witness for Jesus. The fear of the Lord helps us to focus our priorities on eternity. When we focus on eternity, we lay up treasures in heaven, not on earth. May God help us to grow in the fear of the Lord and to not fear or worry about anything else.