And he told them this parable: 'The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.' And I'll say to myself, you have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.' But God said to him, 'you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:16-21 NIV

This sounds like a success story, until you get to the end. The farmer had a bumper crop, that's a good thing! He was storing it up, that's a wise thing! Only one problem, he was attempting to keep it all for himself. This text is full of self-centered pronouns like: I, me, my and so on. The last three words warn about those who are "not rich toward God." What does this mean because it is a key to the parable?

To be "rich toward God" means that God is the focus of your life and that you find total security in Him. Not your wealth or possessions but in Him. He is what you value most.

Appeal: Our Conference will benefit from your giving today. It serves our church and many others in this area to provide guidance and help in building the Kingdom and calling people to be "rich toward God."

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