In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley How God Views the Self-Directed Man Luke 12:16-21 16 And He told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man was very productive.17 And he began reasoning to himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?18Then he said, This is what I will do: 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 many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry. 20 But God said to him, You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared? 21 So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Weve all heard jokes about men who refuse to stop and ask for directions. But in reality, theres probably a good bit of truth to the stereotype, and it isnt limited to males. Plenty of men and women in this world zoom along without slowing down to ask for guidance. If you were to look at the situation from a spiritual perspective, youd see a world of lost souls desperately trying to save themselves. They think they can earn their way into heaven through hard work and the accumulation of good deeds. But theyre wrong. Todays passage from Luke describes a wealthy person who makes a lot of plans based only on his own thoughts, desires, and experience. Take the time to look at the passage again, and notice how many times he used the words I and my. What youll see is that his focus was squarely on himself. This parable is a sad picture of the self-directed man trying to make his own way and secure his own future with no help from anyone--including God. The Lord didnt mince words: He called the man fool (v. 20). Worldly wisdom amounts to nothing in the eyes of our omniscient, all-wise Father (1 Cor. 1:20), and He expects His children to request and follow His guidance. The message for us today is clear: When we figure out our own plans and take action with no thought about what God would advise, we are behaving like fools. The Lord has a plan for your life. He knows where youll succeed and where youll fail. Be wise and ask Him for directions.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 17:05:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015