Money & Family Fued

Parable of the Foolish Farmer

Luke 12:13–21 NKJV

Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 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.” Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 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. 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.” ’ 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?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

The younger was being cheated out of inheritance by his elder brother, one third of the estate was rightly his. He had a spiritual problem for a desire of material things. Jesus that his real problem was covetousness. The Lord deals with causes, not symptoms. Covetousness leads to all kinds of sin.

Verse 15 is key in this parable, key to successful life for the younger was to receive his share. Jesus said that life doesn’t consist in the abundance of things.

I. The farmer only saw himself, he didn’t see God’s hand in supplying the bumper crop.

My goods… my fruits… my barns.....my soul

He forgot that he was not the owner, but the possessor.

God made all things good. Gen. 1:31

Genesis 1:31 NKJV

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

1 Timothy 6:17 NKJV

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

Matthew 5:45 NKJV

that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

The rich harvest proved that God was kind and gracious to him. Wealth is no measure of worth.

Luke 5:8 NKJV

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

Genesis 32:10 NKJV

I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.

Blessings we receive in this life are a mirror in which we see ourselves, or a window through which we see God.

The proud selfish person thinks he deserves all these blessings and thinks only of himself.

The person who knows that all blessings come from God looks away fro himself to the lord who gives so richly.

We need to see the hand of God in a piece of bread as much as in a field of grain.

Deuteronomy 6:10–12 NKJV

“So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

When we look at blessings in life, do we think of God, or think of ourselves?

Luke 12:21 NKJV

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Material blessings of life enrich us spiritually instead robbing us. Material blessings should draw us closer to the Lord.

Length of life is not guaranteed by things.

If i have great health insurance, there is no proof that I will live longer than someone who cannot afford health care.