“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:15-21).

In the above scripture passage, the rich man, told his soul to rejoice and be glad because he had so much food in his barn to last him many years, he even planned to build a larger barn to store the goods, not knowing that his life was to end that very night. Quite scary isn’t it?

You would think that the rich man would have thought of sharing all that food with his family, neighbors, friends and even strangers and the poor around him, but that wasn’t his plan at all.

His plan was to accumulate wealth and enjoy life without regard for his spiritual wellbeing. He wanted to hoard it all, by building a bigger barn to store them, but unfortunately, he died that same night and did not live to enjoy it.

Do not take God for granted. God is not mocked, according to Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Through this passage, Jesus taught us a great lesson, that life on earth is temporary and unpredictable. No one knows the future, only God.

True wealth is found only in God, and not in material possessions.

Jesus also said, beware of covetousness, that means beware of greed. The rich man must have labored and toiled to earn himself the title of a “Rich man” but when he died he left everything behind. He could not carry any of his riches with him to the grave. Perhaps some of the people he did not want to share his wealth with while he was alive, were among those who benefitted from it after his death, and he had no control over that.

Jesus called him a fool, this confirms Psalm 14:1, which said, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”

The rich man died neither knowing, nor acknowledging God. If he knew God, he would have first given him thanks and praise for his riches and then ask him how he could be a blessing to others,  with what God had given him.

It is better to depart this world while obeying God’s command, than die in sin.

God is a just God and his judgement towards the rich man was fierce and immediate. Perhaps God was fed up with his arrogance and pride for quite some time. It must have taken the rich man quite some years to accumulate all that wealth, but when it was time to enjoy it, he was destroyed.

This can be likened to what happened to king Herod in Acts 12:21-22, when he tried to take the glory that belong to God alone to himself, God’s angel struck him, and worms ate him, and he died. God is a jealous God and will not share his glory with anyone. (Exodus 34:14). Death is the consequence of covetousness.

God is almighty. He is all-powerful. He is all-knowing, all-seeing, and ever present.  Nothing is hidden from him.  Whatever he says, must come to pass.

There is no where you can hide that God cannot see you. He knows even our secret thoughts. 

We cannot and must not rely on ourselves. We are nothing without God.

The air we breathe in, is from God. The life we have today is from him. Every good thing we have in this life is given to us by God. If we say it is the fruit of our hard work, we are mistaken, because he gave us life and strength and ability to do what work we are doing to earn the money we have today. If he takes away our breath or the good health we are enjoying today, that will be the end of it. We must not take God for granted.

If we truly know and understand all this about God and believe in him, then we will seek his kingdom first above riches and popularity.

If we understand God’s power and authority and abilities, we will be in awe of him always. Then we will depend absolutely on him for everything, regardless of how insignificant it might be.

Paul the Apostle wrote in Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” 

And in the book of Mark 8:36-37, we read, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

No amount of wealth on earth is worth losing our soul for. Our earthly possessions are temporary, but our heavenly possessions are eternal.

Heaven is our home. We are pilgrims on earth, we are journeying to heaven. We must start laying up treasures for ourselves in heaven, not accumulating them here on earth.

As written in Matthew 6:19-21,  “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Our priority on earth, should be being rich toward God. It is important that we invest in spiritual health and wealth, through our faith in God, kindness, and generosity towards others, and not in accumulating earthly riches.

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong in having possessions in this life, but it should not be prioritized over our relationship with God and our spiritual growth and wellbeing.

God gives us his blessings to enjoy but at the same time, we must remember to obey him, because he is a jealous God. We cannot put God on a back burner, and only connect or relate with him when we are in need, at our own convenience.

It is important to note that earthly riches last only for a moment, but spiritual wealth lasts forever, that is why we are told to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. We must be rich towards God.

God wants us to seek first his kingdom and righteousness and other things he will add to us. (Matthew 6:33).

The best thing to do is to set our priorities right, and pursue heavenly riches which last forever, rather than earthly riches and recognition, which ends here on earth.

We should be generous with the riches God has blessed us with. There are so many people starving around the world who need food, clothing and shelter, they will be glad if we share with them. They will appreciate our generosity. The more we share, the more the Lord will multiply and bless us. So we need to trust God for our daily bread. He is able to meet all our needs.

When we trust God for our needs, and walk in obedience to his word, we rest in his peace. There will be no room for anxiety, nothing to fear, no guilty conscience, and no sleepless nights.

The consequences of covetousness is death. The answer is trust in God and obedience to his word which will lead to eternal life.

Glory to God almighty for ever and ever. Amen.