If someone spends his earnings recklessly without saving, we say such person have no plans for the future. But someone else (a rich man in the parable of the rich man) who had ample savings set aside for the future was called a fool! Why? Who is the fool here: the one that spends recklessly or the one that saves? Isn’t it wise and responsible to save for the future?
The rich man in the parable wasn’t called a fool because he planned for the future. There is one very important thing the rich man didn’t plan for! We too, in our pursuit of wealth and plan for the future, stand a risk of falling victim to the same mistake. If you wish to know this, read slowly…
Cf. Luke 12:13-21
…Then Jesus told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?” So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.
POINTS FOR REFLECTION
1. Live for yourself and for others:
Child of God, the rich man was called a fool not because he is wealthy or because he saves for the future, but because he appears to live only for himself, and because he believes that he can secure his life with his abundant possessions, without the help or intervention of others.
When the rich man talks in this parable, he talks only to himself, and the only person he refers to is himself:
“What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” “I will do this…I will do that…”
Beware of the “I” – Syndrome! Selfishness and self-centeredness is the beginning of many problems in the world. It is the cause of many family problems. Because of this, a man complained to Jesus saying:
“Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance”, and in response Jesus tells the parable of the rich foolish man.
2. Money is good but is not everything!
Experience have shown that no matter how much we have, we are always aware of things we don’t have. The higher our earning, the higher our needs. And so we are always lacking something.
Sometimes we are tempted to think that having huge bank accounts and properties will make us secure. Sooner or later, however, we learn that no amount of wealth or property can secure our lives. For instance, no amount of wealth can protect one from a genetically inherited disease, or from a tragic accident. No amount of wealth can keep our relationships or marriages healthy and our families from falling apart.
TASK
Give up greed today. Ask yourself: Do I want to possess or acquire properties continuously without caring whether others have at all?
I Pray for you
May the Holy Spirit empower you, and give you the courage to kill everything that belongs only to earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and greed, in Jesus name. Amen.
May I learn to conquer the “I trinity” – me, myself and I??
God bless you sir for your seasoned contributions. thanks