Today’s passage reminds us that abundance isn’t the problem—selfishness is. The rich man wasn’t called a fool because his land produced a good crop, but because he used it only for himself. He built bigger barns instead of a bigger heart. That’s the warning for us too: wealth, possessions, even security won’t follow us past this life. In God’s Kingdom, gold is just pavement. What lasts is being rich toward God—living generously, blessing others, using what we’ve been given to point people back to Him. So today, let’s hold our blessings with open hands, ready to share, ready to bless, and ready to trust that God will provide.

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Well, good morning. It’s good to be with you on this Tuesday. I hope you’re doing well and having a great day so far. However you’re joining in—whether you’re podcasting this, watching on Facebook, or catching it later on YouTube—it’s always good to spend a few minutes together in God’s Word.

Today we’re in Luke 12, reading verses 13–21:

Luke 12:13–21 (NRSV)
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Now, this is one of those passages that hits us right between the eyes. A guy comes up to Jesus, basically saying, “Hey, make my brother share the inheritance with me.” And Jesus replies—paraphrasing here—“Dude, you’re missing the point. Watch out. Life isn’t about piling up stuff.”

And then he tells the story of the rich fool. Notice something—his land produced abundantly. That’s not bad. In fact, in Scripture, abundant harvest is usually a sign of blessing. Remember the parable of the sower? Or the Old Testament laws about leaving the edges of your field so the poor could glean? Abundance isn’t the problem.

The problem is what the man does with it. Instead of saying, “Wow, God has blessed me so much, how can I bless others? How can I help my neighbors? How can I give back to God?” he says, “Nope. I’ll just build a bigger barn. I’ll hoard it all. I’ll set myself up so I never have to worry again.” And then—plot twist—his life ends that night. All that stuff he worked for? Useless.

It reminds me of that line in Revelation about streets of gold. I do think it’s literal—heaven’s streets are paved with gold. But the point isn’t that heaven is super fancy. The point is that the thing we treat as most valuable here on earth—the thing nations fight wars over, the thing families break apart over—in heaven, it’s just asphalt. Pothole filler. That’s how little it’s worth in God’s Kingdom.

So here’s the lesson: you can’t take it with you. Money, possessions, barns—they don’t follow you past your last breath. And it’s not that saving is bad. Think about Joseph storing up grain in Egypt during the seven good years so they’d survive the seven lean years. That’s wise stewardship. It’s good to save, it’s good to prepare. But the “why” matters. Are we saving to bless? Or are we saving to hoard?

John Wesley put it like this: earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can. Work hard, earn a living—yes. Save wisely—yes. But don’t stop there. We save not just for ourselves, but so we can give. If God has blessed us with plenty, then part of our calling is to look around and ask, “How can I use this abundance to help others? How can I bless those who don’t have enough?”

Because friends, that’s why we have it. Not to build bigger barns. Not to hoard. But to bless.

So today, remember this: gold is just pavement. Earthly wealth won’t last. But being rich toward God—that’s eternal.

Thanks for being with me today. Tomorrow, Jesus will take it a step further and remind us not to worry—because God’s got us. See you in the morning.