We Reap What We Sow

In Luke 12:16-23, Jesus told a parable about a rich farmer whose fields yielded a bumper crop. The man was concerned about what he would do with all his grain.

Did he think to tithe from it to the ministries of God? Did he consider giving a portion of his unexpected abundance to needy people? No, the rich farmer’s concerns extended no farther than his own fences. Thus, he planned to tear down his barns to build bigger barns and hoard the grain.

Perhaps the wealthy farmer reasoned that to give away his excess would flood the market, and that would devalue whatever grain remained that he kept for sale. What does that profit?

As he pondered his options and surveyed his produce, the rich man chose to take it easy. No more pre-dawn labor. No more stress to plant or harvest at the right times. He planned to eat, drink, and make merry. That’s a nice way of saying he’d become a drunken glutton. He’d party like it’s AD 99.

“You fool,” Jesus said of the hoarder. Tonight, the grim reaper is coming for you. 

That his soul would be required of him is a banking term in the Greek. God would call in the loan of life afforded to the farmer. 

Christ followers should assess what we have done with the life, the marriage, the children, the possessions, the goods, and the income God has entrusted to us. 

Two widows attended the funeral of a wealthy bachelor. One asked the other, “Wonder how much he left?”

“He left all he had,” she replied. 

Such is the end of those who selfishly store their treasures and are not rich toward God. Stewardship garners rewards, and greed, judgment. In all, we reap what we sow.