Luke 12:16-21; Matthew 11:28-30

16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Is the message of the parable of the rich fool that God does not want us to, "take life easy, eat drink and be merry"? Reading other passages like this one from Matthew 11, I think just the opposite, that God wants us to know true ease in life, the best eating and drinking, true enjoyment, and true merriment, the kind that storehouses full of grain can't provide, the kind that only He can provide. When our resources increase, when all storms seem to have passed, when we feel secure about our health, safety and financial stability, we may be tempted to try to believe that God is no longer needed. The parable of the rich fool reminds us that everything we have was ultimately given to us by God, and it has no power to help us apart from Him.