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This past Wednesday night, April 1st, I shared a message that has stayed with me long after the service ended.

It was one of those passages that doesn’t just speak—it searches.

And the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized… this isn’t just a message we needed to hear in a service.

It’s one we need to carry into everyday life.

Because it centers around a word we don’t take very seriously anymore.

“Fool.”

There’s one day on the calendar when that word doesn’t sting.

April Fool’s Day.

It’s playful. Lighthearted. Expected.

But when you open the Bible, that word carries a completely different weight. God never uses it casually. He never throws it around as a joke.

And in Luke 12, it isn’t a prophet or preacher who says it.

It’s Jesus.

He looks at a man’s life—a man who seems to have everything together—and says:

“Fool.”

That should stop us.

Because the man Jesus is talking about doesn’t look like someone who messed up his life.

He looks like someone who built it well.

A Life That Looked Blessed

Jesus tells the story of a rich man whose land “yielded plentifully.”

That’s not barely getting by—that’s overflow.

This man wasn’t struggling. He wasn’t desperate. He was thriving.

And if we’re honest, this is the kind of life most people hope for. Stability. Growth. Provision. A sense that things are finally working.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

But Jesus doesn’t stop at what’s visible.

He shows us what’s happening beneath the surface.

“And he thought within himself…”

That small phrase is easy to pass over—but it reveals everything.

Everything is happening internally.

No prayer.
No seeking God.
No dependence.

Just him… reasoning through his life.

And that’s where foolishness begins.

Not always in rebellion.

But in removal.

Removing God from the center of your thinking.

You don’t have to deny God out loud to live like He isn’t there.

You can believe in Him… and still ignore Him.
Acknowledge Him… and never consult Him.
Talk about Him… and not submit to Him.

And over time, something subtle begins to happen.

Your life becomes self-directed instead of God-dependent.

Not overnight.

But gradually.

A Mind Full of Plans… But Blind to Eternity

As the story unfolds, the man begins to map out his future.

“I will do this… I will pull down my barns and build greater…”

There’s a rhythm to his thinking.

“I will…”
“I will…”
“I will…”

Everything about his future is centered on himself.

Now notice something important—there is nothing immoral in what he is doing.

He isn’t dishonest.
He isn’t reckless.
He isn’t harming anyone.

He’s simply living… as if this life is all there is.

And then he says something that reveals just how far that thinking has gone:

“Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years…”

There it is.

The quiet assumption that shapes so many lives:

“I have time.”

We don’t usually say that out loud.

But we live like it.

We put off deeper surrender.
We delay obedience.
We assume there will always be another opportunity to get things right.

But this man builds his entire future on something he was never promised.

More time.

The Interruption No One Plans For

Then suddenly, without warning, everything changes.

“But God said to him…”

Those words interrupt everything.

The man had a plan.

God had a verdict.

“This night your soul will be required of you.”

Not someday.

Not eventually.

Not after he finishes what he started.

This night.

Everything he had built…
Everything he trusted in…
Everything he thought would secure his future…

Could not give him one more moment.

And then comes the word:

“Fool.”

Not because he lacked intelligence.

Not because he failed in business.

But because he succeeded in everything that didn’t matter eternally.

The Tragedy No One Sees Coming

Jesus closes with a statement that defines the entire story:

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

That’s the real issue.

The man wasn’t poor.

He was just rich in the wrong place.

And that’s where this becomes deeply personal.

Because it is entirely possible to be:

Financially secure… and spiritually empty.
Successful in life… and unprepared for eternity.
Admired by people… and disconnected from God.

And the most dangerous part?

You can look completely fine while it’s happening.

No alarms.

No obvious warning signs.

Just a slow shift of focus—from God… to self.

The Question That Won’t Go Away

Jesus didn’t tell this story just to describe someone else.

He told it to confront us.

Because the real question isn’t:

Was that man a fool?

The real question is:

Am I living the same way?

Am I making decisions without seeking God?
Am I building my life around comfort instead of Christ?
Am I assuming I have more time than I actually do?

If we’re honest, this hits closer than we’d like.

Because this isn’t just about those who don’t know God.

This is a warning for those who do.

You can be saved… and still drift into a life where God is no longer central.

Still attending church.
Still knowing truth.
Still carrying the name of Christ.

And yet, day to day…

Making decisions without Him.
Planning without Him.
Living with very little dependence on Him.

Not rejecting Him—

Just sidelining Him.

A Quiet Drift… and a Needed Return

This isn’t about fear.

It’s about alignment.

It’s about asking a simple but honest question:

Where is God in my daily life?

Not in what I believe.

But in how I live.

Is He central… or occasional?
Leading… or only consulted when needed?
The foundation… or just part of the structure?

Because the warning here isn’t just:

“Be ready when you die.”

It’s this:

Don’t live your life in a way that forgets God while you’re still alive.

Coming Back to Center

The wise person isn’t the one who never drifts.

It’s the one who recognizes it… and returns.

Maybe for you, that means slowing down long enough to seek Him again.

Maybe it means bringing your decisions back under His direction.

Maybe it means letting go of control you’ve quietly taken back.

Not starting over.

Just realigning.

Because life doesn’t fall apart all at once.

It drifts off center one small step at a time.

And it comes back the same way.

One surrendered step at a time.

Rooted in Grace

Pastor David
gracepastordavid@gmail.com

Walk in Him—rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith.
— Colossians 2:6–7 (NKJV)

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