Daily Bible Reading 18th September 2026 // Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of one's possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: 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 ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.”
As to the parable itself, it is a remarkable study, on any interpretation. Here is a man who had, as we say, 'got on'. It is not that he was a bad man, or that he had gotten his wealth in any questionable manner; but everything he touched had turned to gold. There is nothing wrong in that; but it is a situation that is not without its dangers. In his prosperity, he not only became ensnared in worldliness, but also all the selfish tendencies of his heart came into their own. He is shown as being perplexed (17) as to what to do with all his produce, but this is in terms of storing it up for himself. There is no outgoing of his heart in generosity to others. Indeed, the striking thing about the parable is his own isolation - no one is allowed to break into his self-absorption to share anything of his life with him. And - even more sinister than the hardening power of riches - we see also their deceitfulness, for (a) he thought to feed his soul on the mammon of unrighteousness (19b), and (b) he thought that his riches would make him secure for many years to come (19a). He could not have been more wrong, but he did not see it. That is the point: he was deceived. Because materialism is a deceptive creed!