The Parable of the Rich Fool - Bible Lessons 4 Kidz



Lesson #9 - The Parable of the Rich Fool

Main Point: We cannot take things with us to heaven, so we should put our energy and efforts into storing up eternal treasures in heaven.

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|A rich man's field produced a big gain |

|But what would he do with all that grain? |

|"I have no place to store my crops." |

|I filled my barns all the way to their tops. |

|I'll tear them down and build ones bigger |

|And then retire while I still have vigor |

|I'll take life easy and bask by the pool |

|But God said to him, "You are a fool!  |

|Tonight you'll die, you'll go on the shelf |

|Then who will get what you prepared for yourself?" |

|So it will be for those who hoard  |

|Things for themselves but not for the Lord |

By

Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "tell my brother to divide the family property with me."

    14 Jesus replied, "Friend, who made me a judge or umpire between you?"

    15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has."

    16 Then Jesus told them a story. He said, "A certain rich man's land produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What should I do? I don't have any place to store my crops.'

    18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my storerooms and build bigger ones. I will store all my grain and my other things in them. 19 I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time." '

    20 "But God said to him, 'You foolish man! This very night I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

    21 "That is how it will be for anyone who stores things away for himself but is not rich in God's eyes."

PowerPoint: Luke 12:13 Someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "tell my brother to divide the family property with me."

Say This: As Jesus is teaching, someone in the crowd interrupted Jesus. He asked Jesus to tell his brother to split some money with him. His timing is fascinating because just a few sentences prior Jesus was talking about God’s incredible care of the sparrows. Jesus said that FIVE sparrows were sold for 2 cents, but God does not forget even one of them.

PowerPoint:

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Then Jesus went on to say that God cares about people so much that He even counts the number of hairs on each person’s head!

PowerPoint:

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Say This: So this man’s interruption shows that he must not have really been listening to what Jesus was teaching. If God cares about sparrows and counts all the hairs on people’s heads, SURELY He will provide the money this man wants.

But this man has a problem –actually, he has 2 problems…

1. He is not listening to what Jesus is teaching.

2. He had a problem with greed.

Ask: Do you know what the word greed means?

Say This: Greed is wanting more than you need.

PowerPoint: Show this picture:

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Let’s read how Jesus responds to this man:

PowerPoint: Luke 12:14-15 Jesus replied, "Friend, who made me a judge or umpire between you?"

   Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has."

Say This: Jesus warned this man about wanting to have more and more things. Do you know that there are people who actually think that if they can get enough stuff they’ll have a happy life? Jesus said that “life is not made up of how much a person has.” Even if you have a lot of stuff, your life is not defined by what you have.

Some of the most miserable people I know are people who have grown up with a lot of money and things. Money cannot buy happiness, and it cannot buy true relationships.

"Millionaires who laugh," said Andrew Carnegie, "are rare. “You may have all the money in the world, and yet be a lonely, sorrowing man.”

Say This: To help this man and everyone else understand this point, Jesus told a parable/story:

PowerPoint: Luke 12:16-21  Then Jesus told them a story. He said, "A certain rich man's land produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What should I do? I don't have any place to store my crops.'

   "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my storerooms and build bigger ones. I will store all my grain and my other things in them. I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time." '

   "But God said to him, 'You foolish man! This very night I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

   "That is how it will be for anyone who stores things away for himself but is not rich in God's eyes."

Say This: Let’s take a closer look at this story and see what we can learn.

Jesus talked about this rich man in a very ordinary way. This man was not showing any real signs of greed. In fact, he almost seemed opposite of greedy. He was actually quite content. But both this man and the man who interrupted Jesus’ teaching thought that life was better with lots of stuff. One is selfish, and the other is self-satisfied. Neither were giving any real thought to God and His way.

The man in this story was already rich. The Bible said that he had a good crop.

Ask: Who makes the earth produce a good crop? (God)

Say This: Sometimes a farmer can plant many seeds and get just a few crops. Other times, the farmer gets a HUGE crop. Abundance is from the Lord, and we must always be careful to recognize that everything we have comes from Him!

So the man is rich, and he has a very big crop. In fact, he has so many crops, he doesn’t know what to do with all of this food! So what does he do with the extra crop?

PowerPoint: He thought to himself, 'What should I do? I don't have any place to store my crops.'

Say This: In this culture, the common thing to do was to go to the city gates to discuss everything. The fact that the Bible says that he “thought to himself” indicates that he may not have anyone else to discuss this with. Maybe he didn’t have any friends or close relationships. Or maybe he thought he knew better and didn’t need to consult someone else. He seemed to have valued money more than he valued people/relationships.

PowerPoint: "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my storerooms and build bigger ones. I will store all my grain and my other things in them. I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time." '

Say This: I hope you noticed how many times this man said the word, “I”!!!

There is not one mention of God’s goodness to him or how he could show God’s goodness to others by sharing his surplus.

He also seemed to assume that he would have plenty of time to enjoy his wealth. But all changes when God comes in the picture:

 PowerPoint:   "But God said to him, 'You foolish man! This very night I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

   "That is how it will be for anyone who stores things away for himself but is not rich in God's eyes."

Ask: How can we be “rich in God’s eyes”? (Listen for kids’ answers).

Say This: This rich man didn’t have any idea that this would be his last day on the earth. He didn’t know that his time was up. God asked him who would get all that he had prepared for himself?

I wonder how this man would have lived if he knew how short his life was going to be.

Jesus had a wonderful way of asking people questions that really made them think.

Here, at the beginning, a man randomly interrupts Jesus’ teaching to ask about dividing money between him and his brother, and then Jesus told this story about a rich man who had so much food that he decided to build bigger barns. Jesus ended this story with a question to connect these 2 people.

Ask: The man who interrupted had two problems. Do you remember what they are? (He is not listening to Jesus’ teaching, and he is very greedy).

Say This: He wants Jesus to tell his brother to divide money because their father had died. Jesus ended the story about the rich fool by stating that he died and then asked, “Who will get what you’ve prepared for yourself?”

The answer is obvious. His kids. His kids will fight over his wealth just as the man who interrupted Jesus is obviously fighting his brother over his dead dad’s wealth.

PowerPoint: Luke 12:21    "That is how it will be for anyone who stores things away for himself but is not rich in God's eyes."

Say This: The rich man is poor in God’s eyes.

All through Jesus’ teachings, He is telling the people, “Don’t worry”, “Don’t be anxious”. Jesus is telling people not to be upset about things.

When the greedy man interrupted Jesus, his question fit right in with what Jesus was teaching. Jesus then went on to say that there is way more to life than just food and clothing. Life is not made up of things; life is made up of knowing God, loving Him, and loving other people.

Main Point: We cannot take things with us to heaven, so we should put our energy and efforts into storing up eternal treasures in heaven.

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