13: And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14: And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15: And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16: And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18: 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. 19: 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. 20: 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? 21: So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

13: And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14: And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15: And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Some people are very interested in obtaining all the things of this world that they can obtain. Jesus said that we should beware of covetousness. God does not judge us on the amount of things that we have accumulated during our lifetime. It is the world that judges us on the amount of things.

16: And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18: 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.

Jesus gave this parable to illustrate covetousness in the extreme. God had blessed the rich man so much that he was not even able to put everything some place. Instead of sharing with others, he selfishly only considered himself. On the surface of the parable God has blessed the rich man with physical things. He had real barns and he needed a place bigger to put his real fruit. Below the surface of the parable, God has spiritually blessed Christians with spiritual truth (fruit of the spirit) that they need to share with others! Instead they selfishly keep the truth to themselves. They concentrate on accumulating more things of this world. They are more concerned with getting than giving.

19: 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.

Many Christians have spent their lives planning for retirement so that they can enjoy the things of this world. They have more money in the bank than they need. They are thinking only of physical enjoyment. Spiritually, they have had many years of learning the truth and have more spiritual knowledge than they need.! They should be thinking of spiritual enjoyment gained from soul winning.

20: 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? 21: So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

When the end of life comes for those Christians who have laid up treasure for themselves on earth, they will find that they have missed out on the treasure of heaven. They were rich in the goods of this earth but poor in the treasure that God thinks is the most important. The fruit that God wants in His Barn are souls. That is His treasure. Philippians 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. If we want to be rich toward God, we will share the knowledge and rich truth that we have with others and win souls for God.