Only a Fool!

By Ron Thomas

     We live in a land of abundance. As each year passes one can’t help but notice not only the abundance of wealth in our country, but also the deprivations that others experience because of varied reasons. In Luke 12:13-21, the Lord addresses the  vanity of one who possessed much, but failed to see things that were even of greater importance. The man who owned much in the way of material things only desired to expand his holdings (12:18), and he did this for his own retirement’s sake. The Lord looked upon his actions and his heart as that of a “Nabal” (cf. 1 Samuel 25:25), only as a foolish one.
     Some of us are more fortunate than others in this country. Since we are in the position we are as a result of the Lord, since we are educated (at whatever level), since we have an internal drive to accomplish much on the way of good, what have we done with what is ours? Rather than build a large place to live, why not be satisfied with a “cottage below” in this world? Do we really need something that is considered large even by our own standards?
     Not long ago I was speaking with a man who built a house in our area; it is a large house (to me), but I learned that it was much larger than I imagined. He and his wife have been fortunate in life. She is on staff at the University of Illinois and he has his own business. They were able to give themselves that which they wanted, and the square footage of their house was around 6, 500 feet. A husband and wife (with children gone) with a house that large struck me as something similar to that which is read in Luke 12:13-21.
     Let me be careful in these remarks. As far as I am aware, there is (and was) no sin involved in this couple’s home or even in that which they were able to mass. Nevertheless, there is a home in Bowling Green, Kentucky and Valparaiso, Indiana were the staff is making appeal after appeal for Christians to help in provisions as they (the Children’s Home) give children a structured life and love.
     We are fortunate because the Lord gave us life in the United States, a location wherein many opportunities abound. Are we building barns, or are we helping in the building of lives (Luke 12:34)?

- Ron Thomas preacher for the Sunrush Church of Christ, Chillicothe, OH. He may be contacted through the congregation's website. http://sunrushchurchofchrist.com/