DO NOT BE LIKE THE RICH FOOL!

Dearly Beloved,
DO NOT BE LIKE THE RICH FOOL!
“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 anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God” (Luke 12:20-21 NIV).
“Fools say to themselves, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 NETB).
I had an online chat with somebody recently. The person was asking me to prove to her why she needs God after all she has. According to her, “Right now without God as my refuge I am doing great, I know how to sail through life smoothly.... if I am comfortable why do I need God? What is going to be different?”
This lady is like the rich fool in a parable in Luke 12 who because of his so-called sufficiency forgot to acknowledge his God. The rich fool thought he could do without God. How wrong he was! He was taught the lesson of his life as he lost everything he had by first losing his life.
Many people feel that they do not need God because of their so-called sufficiency like wealth, position, security, affluence, and the likes. Some of such people even deny the existence of God. How foolish they are! The fact that they are self-sufficient does not mean they have control over their lives. No matter how rich, affluent, powerful or secured they are, they do not know when they will die, where they will die, what kind of death they will have or what will happen to them after death. They cannot even predict successfully what will happen to them in the next second! Anyone who knows these things can say that he does not need God.
In what way are you also behaving like that rich fool? Do you think you can sail through life smoothly without God in spite of how great you are doing? Jesus Christ said, “...apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NIV). Only a fool will forget his source (see Psalm 14:1).
You may acknowledge God and declare that you need Him. However, do you give Him the right place in your life? No matter who you are, God must be your first priority. Do not be like the rich fool!
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).