“Half Past Mid-Way” Luke 12:15-21

“Half Past Mid-Way” Luke 12:15-21

“Half-past mid-way” is a phrase that I have coined to describe a certain season of life. “Half-past midway” is that season of life that begins at about age 60. Now we may surmise, without doing violence to the text, that this “certain rich man” was in the season of life called “half-past mid-way.” Consider the following three points:

1. The farmer is thinking about retirement (verse 19)

• a. This is the farmer’s goal: “I’ll sit back and say to myself, ‘My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink and be merry!’”
• b. God has a problem with his goal. “You fool, you will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?” (verse 20)
• c. Before we decide on a course of action, we should seek the will of God. (Proverbs 16:9; Matthew 6:33)

1. God had blessed the farmer with a fertile farm that produced fine crops (verse 16)

• a. The farmer failed to honor God; rather he focused constantly on himself. (Ecclesiastes 5:10; 1 Timothy 6:6)
• b. Many of us were raised in meager circumstances, and we too fail to honor God for what He has done in our lives. (Genesis 32:10)
• c. The farmer (and by implication, us) should have been able to see God’s hand in blessing him. (Romans 2:4; James 1:17)

1. The older we get, the more credit we ought to give God and the more we ought to seek the things of Heaven (verse 21; James 4:13-17)

• a. The farmer was rich, but not towards God. (vv. 18-19)
• b. Have we planned sufficiently for eternity? (Matthew 6:19-24; Colossians 3:2)

“Christ First, Christ Only, Christ Always”