Luke 12:16-21 “And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 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. 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. 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? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Text Luke 12:20 “this night thy soul shall be required of thee:”

Within the context of the parable, we have a man that has spent far more time preparing to live than preparing to die. You are never really ready to live until you are first ready to die! The problem of the rich man is common to all; young or old, male or female. In verse 21, Jesus reveals a priority problem, “treasure for himself . . . not rich toward God.” This problem extends far beyond just the salvation of the sinner and includes the stewardship of the saint. The problem is not how much or how little we have here, but how much do we have over there? While you may have made preparation to die as a sinner, are you just as prepared to die as a saint? Being rich in the Lord’s redemption is no guarantee of being rich in the Lord’s rewards. The rich man discovered that he had far more treasures than he had time to spend them! None of us have the assurance of another breath. James said, “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” (James 4:14). The Lord called the rich man a fool; not because the man was rich, but because he left more behind than he sent ahead. While none of us control the duration of our time, we do determine the destination of our treasures. Before you get too comfortable, remember, “It could be tonight!”