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The Man with Six "I's" |
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Perhaps, if you
didn’t see how “I’s” was spelled in the title of this article, you
might consider this to be the beginning of a scary tale.
Sometimes things are not what they seem, for this is the beginning of a scary tale. Many times a scary tale is simply the working of
words in fantasy made to indulge the senses, however, a scary tale can also be made to
convey realities which bring more horror than the story itself. The basics of the tale
begin with a parable of Jesus. It is found in Luke 12:16-21. A parable is a story which is made up to convey a
truth, principle, or lesson. The parable reads
as follows: Luke
12:16-21 - And he spake
a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to
bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build
greater; and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul,
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry.
But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the
things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? So is he that layeth up treasure for
himself, and is not rich toward God. The parable is often referred
to as “The man with six I’s”, because of the six “I” statements
made within it. The principle set forth is
that a man is foolish who focuses on getting ahead in life instead of focusing on God. The horror of the story is that despite all the
man’s riches, all the man’s plans, all of his preparation to make it through his
physical life, he did not do the same for the preparation of his soul. Thus, the day came when he died and would have no
more time to prepare for the moment he stood before God. I will be the first to admit,
that often when I hear of terrible things happening to folks, it is not often I break down
into tears for them. I know folks who do. I actually wish I would. Still, for whatever reason, my upbringing, my
experiences, or perhaps simply because of how I am wired, I am not often shook by the
tragedies of others. To be clear, I never wish
tragedy on anyone. I try to help them where I
can. Yet, for me to feel their pain, I often
mentally have to put myself in their position. This
is really the situation with the parable of “the man with six I’s”. I try to put myself in his situation to understand
the horror of the circumstance. So here is the tale of
horror, put yourself into the story. You are a
simple, average person (I
Thess. 4:11). You work to provide
for your family as you should (I Tim. 5:8). You
try to save and plan for the future. You try
to fill your extra time focusing on your family. You
take small trips on the weekends to reward the family or you have friends over to BBQ. You involve the kids in sports. You take a few hours each Sunday to watch the
football games after church. You have invested
in a few toys, but not too extravagant (the neighbors have more). You understand that you are reaching those slowing
down years and you still haven’t focused much on God – but you plan on it. You just don’t seem to have much spare time
and you are getting tired. Then, one day, you
experience major pains in the chest. You
holler for help, but the family is off to the store. You
dial 911, but before anyone gets there, it is too late.
You are dead. Your time is up. You realize the afterlife is a reality. It is more than just some moral lessons on a Sunday
morning. Will you panic? Will you be prepared?
Will you realize your life was spent as a “fool”. No man has an excuse for not
having a knowledge of God (Romans 1:18-21) Some
have made use of that knowledge and look forward with peace to their last day on earth. Others as Hebrews 10:31 states, find “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God.” This is the horror that
awaited the man with the 6 I’s. His focus
had not been God. It was not his priority. Yet, Matthew 6:33 tell us “But
seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…” Be certain, God does not owe anyone salvation. Man does not earn it.
However, God does expect certain things of man. You can win a prize from a radio contest, but if
you don’t go and pick it up, you won’t get it.
They expect you to drive down and visit.
So, how do you not end up like the man with 6 I’s, fearful, and
unprepared? What is it that God wants? Yes, there is a full Bible
full of 66 books explaining the behavior God desires of mankind. However, I believe I can sum them up with a few key
points. First, God desires you to
put Him first in your life. Matthew 22:37 And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. God knows you have time
you must work and provide for your family. He
knows there must be times of rest (Mark 6:31-32). He
understands you must pay attention to your spouse (I Corinthians 7:32-25, Eph. 5:28). There is an understanding you must direct and raise
your children (Eph.
6:1-4). So what does putting God
first mean? Colossians 3:17 -
tells us, “And whatever you do in
word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the
Father.”. This means everything
you do, must have God’s blessing, his authority.
Indeed, 2
Pet. 1:3 states he has given us all we need for life and godliness. So we are not without direction (see the Bible). When we love Him, we do so by keeping his
commandments John
14:15. These are not a burden to
those that love God (Mat.
11:30). Second God desires you to
love your neighbor (James. 2:8). Your neighbor is mankind. This means you have his best interests at heart. It means you are kind and good to them. It requires you to be not only concerned for their
physical well being, but their spiritual well being. This
means you must share God’s Word with them (2 Tim. 2:24). The
only way you can do that is to study it (2 Tim. 2:15). At
times, you must be able to defend what you believe and protect them from false teaching (I Pet. 3:15, Jude
1:20-23). Above all, you must live
the proper example to keep them from stumbling away from what God wants them to do (I Cor. 10:23-24). Third God desires you to
live a life of purity. Eph 4:17-24, directs we give up the
pride, lusts, and greediness. Romans 13:13-14
points us to giving up the sexual sins (those outside the sexual relationship between man
and wife) and to put away drinking and partying. Our
behaviors and surroundings should be those of wholesomeness, purity, and virtue (Phil. 4:8). Our speech should not be that which corrupts, but
that which builds up (Ephesians
4:29). Your life should be one that
when people say something bad about you, it will only bring them shame, because there is
nothing to sinfulness to convict you (I Pet. 3:16). Fourth God desires you to
worship Him. What is worship? It is “kissing toward” or showing respect
to God. In John 4:24,
Jesus establishes that worship is something that must be done by worshippers with a focus
on God in your heart and with actions he has commanded.
Some folks wonder if it is an ego thing that makes God want you to worship
Him. I think it is a common sense thing. He has given you a brain in your head that should
make you say, “Wow! God cares about me. He provides for me.
He blesses me every single day. How
can I not show my love for Him!” This is
not something that is pointed out in only one verse of the Bible but is stated over and
over throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament (I Sam. 12:24, I Kings 2:4,
3:6, II Kings 20:3, Josh. 24:14, Ps. 86:11, Is. 38:3). It’s seriousness is demonstrated by historical
examples of God’s direct punishment upon men due to their disobedience of his
commands. God wants what he has stated, not
what man dreams up or thinks God wants. Man
has been commanded to assemble together on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) and
at that time engage in worship. Elements of
worship can and do occur at other times as well, but the first day of the week has been
identified as a time of assembly which man is not allowed to skip based on their earthly
desires. Following these points, you
do not have to feel horror at the day of your death as did the man with six
“I’s”. Do these four points
tell you all you need to know? In general yes,
in specific no, this is why it is mentioned that we must study. We must put God as our focus and learn of his ways. God knows we all have varying obligations in our
lives. However, he does not excuse us from
sharing His word. He knows if we have put him
first in our lives or put other things first (Matthew 25:14-30, I John 3:18-20, James 4:17). He knows if we have applied the fruit of the spirit
in our lives (Galatians
5:22-23). He knows if we have lived
lives serving others or ourselves. That was
the tragedy of the man with the six “I’s”, it was all about him and no one
else. Let us not make his horrible tale our
own, but find peace and salvation in God (John 6:68, 2 Peter 1:2). Please Stumble this Article! Do you enjoy reading articles? Return to the main Articles Page |
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