"BUILDING BIGGER BARNS!"

Luke 12:16-21          (1599 Geneva Bible)
"16 And he put forth a parable unto them, saying, The GROUND of a certain RICH man brought forth FRUITS PLENTEOUSLY.
17 Therefore he thought with himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where I may lay up my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns, and build greater, and therein will I gather all my fruits, and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, live at ease, eat, drink, and take thy pastime.
20 But GOD said unto him, O fool, this night will they fetch away thy soul from thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that gathereth riches to himself, and is not rich in GOD."


Too many times I get so caught up with "making a dollar" that I lose sight of the important things of life.  I get so caught up with "BUILDING BIGGER BARNS" that I forget about the lives that my product can be affecting.  The people who buy our products do so, not because we are the biggest and best, but because they trust that our employees care about the clients needs more than profit.

In this parable, JESUS was expressing to the masses (Luke 12:1 says the crowd was "innumerable") that a RICH man had experienced a huge return from the seeds he planted.  JESUS made it clear the GROUND yielded the fruits, not the efforts of the RICH man.  Why didn't the RICH man give some of his surplus to the needy?  Why did he have to build bigger barns for more harvest when there could be a drought the next few years leaving his new barns empty?  The RICH man lost sight of the things that really mattered and was looking too much at his bank account!

Dr. Charles Stanley sends out a daily devotional via email.  Today there was a statement in the devotional that continues to cause me to reflect.  "Our culture is so fast-paced that few of us take the time to actually consider where we're going."  Why do we allow the desire to make MORE money, wealth, or "BUILDING BIGGER BARNS" to drive us into a rat-race where we forget about serving others?  1 Peter 4:10 tells us "Let every man as he hath received the gift, minister (or serve) the same one to another, as good disposers of the manifold grace of God."

I think I would enjoy being a RICH man!  I have no desire of "BUILDING BIGGER BARNS" though.  I would invest in the Kingdom by giving to the needy and helping those who GOD placed in my path to show HIS mercy on.  1 Corinthians 3:6 says that GOD gives the increase, so HE will have to provide the blessings to bring about my desires.  I have no dreams of "BUILDING BIGGER BARNS", rather my desire is serving HIS Kingdom!