December 03, 2009
Tomorrow I'll...
Most of us do not live our lives day to day. Sometimes our plans, appointments and dreams are scheduled years in advance. I just flipped my calendar over to December and saw that my sister Shelly has an appointment with the pulmonary doctor on Dec. 7th. Since she passed away on October 27th, I called and left a message on the doctor’s answering machine that Shelly won’t be making the appointment. It was strange making the cancellation and it brought to mind the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21). His land produced such a good crop that he decided to tear down his old barns and build bigger ones…All for the purpose of having plenty laid up for many years so that he could, “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” The man died while making his grandiose plans. I can sympathize with his family having to cancel meetings with the developer, the realtor and the city planning department.
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Gail;
-----This rich man did what was wise by planning ahead. We neither know we are going to die tomorrow or live tomorrow. If we live our lives like we will not be here tomorrow and are wrong, then tomorrow will have no preparation. Your sister‘s appointment for December 7th was good preparation, and the fact she was not here to keep it did not render the preparation bad. When James wrote, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain,’ whereas you do not know about tomorrow...” (James 4:13-14) he was not invalidating the need for plans, nor castigating the plan to trade and profit. He was simply exhorting us to realize in all our plans that we do not know about tomorrow, and therefore we should not arrogantly approach our plans with the certainty only God can have. For he continued, “Instead you ought to say, ’If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance.” (vss. 15-16) Planning with the humble understanding that our plans are based upon our very limited knowledge is wiser, and doing it knowing our plans belong to us, but His is the direction of our footsteps is the wisest.
-----In this parable, Jesus did not address the rich man’s planning. He addressed his plans; something was wrong with the actual plan. Proverbs 11:24-26 helps us diagnose the ailment. “One man gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. A liberal man will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.” Proverbs does not advocate against being rich, but against becoming rich through self-service. The rich man‘s plan to build granaries was not for the efficient warehousing and selling of the grain to the community, let alone the effective giving of any excess to the poor (I John 3:17). Notice the combination of two conditions in his plans: laying up treasure, and having a selfish purpose without generosity towards God. The rich man perceived his production as being for his sole benefit and planned to use it that way. So Jesus made it a point to mention the rectification of the rich man’s plans, “This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (vs. 20) This man was not a fool for planning, he was a fool for planning self gratification without even a thought for God.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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