Saturday's Scripture Story
Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Pondering Point
While the story for this week centers around giving, the lesson comes by a negative example. The parable is shared by Jesus after He is approached to arbitrate a disagreement over an inheritance. Instead He teaches this story. The man in the story – spoiler alert – turns out to be a rich but foolish man. Though he had plenty stored up, even more than he needed, he used it only on himself.
That leads us to our final teaching about giving this week. Among the various lessons Paul taught his son-in-the-faith Timothy was this one from 1 Timothy 6:17:
1 Timothy 6:17
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
We see a couple of nice, appropriate points raised in the verse for those well blessed financially. Don’t be arrogant. Put your hope in God rather than wealth. But then comes the kicker. ENJOY what God has given you.
Let’s keep things in a godly order: Along with learning to give for the sake and benefit of others – family, friends, and strangers – we are encouraged to enjoy what God has given us in life. Enjoy the life God has given to us.
What a nice thought.
Hook Questions
Use these questions with your group when you are using Bible stories as central piece to your time together:
- If you have siblings, share one of the worst fights that you had with a brother or sister. If you are an only child, share a fight that you had with a friend at some point.
Bible Storying’s Core Questions
- What did you like (or learn new) about the story?
- What did you not like (or not understand) about it?
- What are the various people doing in the story? With whom do you identify within the story?
- What is God doing in the story?
- What might God be asking of you triggered by this
story? How is he challenging you?
A great way to get God’s stories to stick with you is telling them to other people.
Prayer
Teach me Father to be rich toward You, putting my hope in You and not wealth. Show me how to rightfully enjoy all that You have lavished upon me, from love to forgiveness to friendship, church family and fellowship, health and home to name a few. May my generosity mirror Yours in Jesus’ name. Amen.