Are We Building Bigger Barns?

What is the life pursuit all about?  What “toys” are we accumulating or goals striving to accomplish?  The game of life and the chasing of our dreams can be distracting to say the least.  I wonder what the day to day or long term goals were for the rich farmer described in the Luke 12:16-21: 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.”

There are two critical points in the last sentence which are storing up things for themselves and not being rich toward God!

In Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The Bible mentions rewards for those believer who serve the Lord faithfully (Matthew 10:41). A “great” reward is promised to those who are persecuted for Jesus’ sake. Various crowns are referred to in 2 Timothy 4:8.  Jesus states that He will bring rewards with Him when He returns (Revelation 22:12).

In Matthew 19, the rich young man loved his money more than God in a fact that Jesus pointed out. The issue wasn’t that the young man was rich but that he “treasured” his riches and did not “treasure” what he could have in Jesus when he was told to sell his possessions and give to the poor, “and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (verse 21). The young man left Jesus sad, because he was very rich. He chose this world’s treasure and so did not lay up treasure in heaven. He was unwilling to make Jesus his treasure. The young man was very religious, but Jesus exposed his heart of selfishness.