With Treasure But Not Rich Toward God - Luke 12:21

The beloved physician Luke wrote how Jesus, “spoke a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And 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. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have provided?”, and in chapter twelve and verse twenty-one of his book Luke shared how Jesus said, “so is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” where we read:

So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

The verse reads, “So is he that lays up treasure for himself, ...” Luke began with the words, “so is he that lays up treasure” or “in this manner and thus is the person whether male or female who gathers, heaps, stores and accumulates riches in reserve” “for himself” which means “on behalf of his own self”. Luke shared how Jesus made the people who “store up riches for themselves” as equal to this man who thought he would build bigger barns to store his excess “crops and goods” but was to die that night.

The verse goes on to say, “... and is not rich toward God.” Luke continued with the words, “and is not rich” or “and does not have abundance, outward possessions and rich supplies” “toward God” which means “to the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Luke shared how Jesus said the person who is like the man who wanted to build bigger barns and did not know his life would be “required” of him that night is like the person who has “great riches” but is not “wealthy” toward God.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn the how the people who are “rich” in this world but not “rich” toward God are “fools”. “Riches” and “wealth”, no matter how large they are, are temporary, and when a person “dies”, they leave them all behind. God's desire is to have a loving, personal and eternal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they yield their lives to Him, they will have everlasting treasure. Let all who read these words receive Jesus and become “rich toward God”.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus says, “take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".