March 27, 2025 Morning Devotional
Morning Devotion: Read Luke - The Parable of the Farming Fool
Luke 12:13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15 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. 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 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. 19 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. 20 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? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
One of the ten commandments is “Thou shalt not covet.” Covetousness is the one sin that is involved in all the violations of the ten commandments. It is the force that often drives man away from God.
In our text we find people arguing over an inheritance; the issue gives our Lord opportunity to reveal their covetousness. Do you know people who have argued over inheritance?
The text illustrates covetousness with a farmer who had done quite well. His farm produced much and was plentiful. (The thing about farming is this, God controls the variables of the farm.)
Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Job 5:10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
The man in our text finds his ground was blessed and brought forth plentifully; that fact kept his eyes on himself rather than the Lord. He says, I will build, I will bestow and I will say to my soul. No thought of God in the whole process; he gave no thought to his soul’s relationship with God. To him, it was all about the here and now and what he did and his stuff.
Rather than rejoicing in the Lord he rejoiced in what he did.
James 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
I recently watched the NCAA wrestling championships. The last match was the heavyweight bout. The unexpected underdog won the match. He was a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. When he won he fell on his knees and gave God the glory, stood up and saluted the president of the United States, and hugged his parents. At the interview he gave the Lord Jesus Christ the glory. That was a tremendous display of gratitude to the one who give us the strength and fortitude and the blessings to accomplish our goals.
Psalm 63:5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
Don’t let your prosperity become a curse. Always keep the Lord Jesus Christ first and give Him the praise for your abundance. Let your abundance and joy be in the Lord not your stuff.
John 10:10b …I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The choice is still yours,
Pastor Cook
