And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."  Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly.  And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?'  Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'  But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'  So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

"One's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."  Elsewhere Jesus tells us "the lure of wealth chokes the word."  (Matthew 13.22)  It is the Word of God which pierces us, judging our thoughts and intentions (Hebrews 4.12).  We can see that this interior discerning action of the word is completely missing from the rich man's life due to his complete focus on his possessions.  He asks himself, "what should I do?" instead of asking God what his desire is for the lands great abundance.  He then answers himself and decides God's blessings are intended entirely for him, if he indeed even sees them as coming from God at all.

The purpose of life is not to accumulate possessions and wealth, it is to seek God's kingdom and will every day.  If we do not seek God's kingdom and will we end up seeking to build a kingdom for ourselves in this world and follow our own will.  The life of a Christian is a life of poverty, suffering, obedience, faith and a constant yearning and striving for the Beloved.  Far from excluding joy it contains all joy for its possesses Jesus.  The world is constantly before us, calling out like a prostitute on a street corner.  "Enter here, relax and take your pleasure."  The sheep leaves the fold, walks away from the shepherds voice, seeks better grass elsewhere and tries to settle down, staking its claim to its own patch of earth, not staking sustenance in common.

There are few passages in Scripture so directly relevant to today's ultra-rich West.  How many today blindly follow the program set before us of accumulation of wealth for the purpose of future retirement security.  We do not look to God to provide for anything.