SOMEONE had just appealed to the Saviour concerning a property dispute. He declined to interfere, the matter being foreign to His mission at that time. He had come from heaven, not to adjust the world’s wrongs, but to seek men’s souls in love. The crooked will certainly be made straight by His hand, but in another era. For this He must return from His present place on high. But meanwhile He Who never missed an opportunity of dealing with men’s consciences concerning things unseen and eternal, used the occasion of the appeal to warn His, hearers against absorption with this world’s affairs. In order to present this the more forcibly he added the familiar parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-2113And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:13‑21)).
The world has never been without such characters as the Saviour here describes. His omniscient eye had observed the like repeatedly. Men to whom the Creator had been specially kind, into whose lap He has poured blessings in abundance, and who have only used His favors to the utter exclusion of Himself from their thoughts., The rich man of our parable was hampered in regard to his produce. His farm had brought forth plentifully, and his barns were full to overflowing, so that greater storehouses must be erected. The possibility of any hitch arising in connection with his projects never occurred to his mind, so self-confident was he. Accordingly, he addressed himself thus: “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” No thought of God, no thought of eternity, found room in his foolish mind. To him this world was everything, and he confidently expected to hold and enjoy it indefinitely.
He ought to have remembered that for man, unlike the beasts there is a life beyond this world, and a God to meet, to whom all must render an account. The divine word to him, and to all of his kind, is, “Thou fool.” This is God’s epithet, not man’s Surely it is not too strong a term to apply to one who absolutely ignores his possession of a never-dying soul. He who think; of nothing but his few years in this world, in utter forgetfulness of the ages upon ages which lie beyond, is a fool indeed. In Luke 16. the Saviour draws aside the veil and shows us the torments of one to whom this world had been everything. He did it in mercy, as a warning to men in all succeeding ages.
The question was recently asked concerning a deceased millionaire: “How much did he leave?” The solemn reply was given: “He left it all.” So to the fool of our parable God said: “This night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided?” “Whose,” indeed! A matter of but small moment to the original possessor when the gates of death have closed upon him. To find then that a supreme blunder has been committed is almost too awful to contemplate. To get one’s eyes opened to the reality of things when the borderline is passed can only lead to eternal despair; to face realities now will result in humble saving faith in God and His beloved Son. This is life indeed.