A man inside the crowd called out about inheritance,

Wanting Jesus to divide the family circumstance.

But Jesus would not take the bench the brother tried to give,

Instead He warned of covetousness and what defines a life we live.

A man's abundance cannot make his life secure or whole,

So He told of richer fields and one increasingly crowded soul.

The ground of one rich man produced beyond his storage room,

And plenty started sounding like a guarantee against the tomb.

He reasoned with himself alone: "What shall I do with all?"

The answer was to tear things down and build the barns more tall.

There he'd gather grain and goods for many years ahead,

Then tell his soul to take its ease, eat, drink, be merry, rest.

He counted harvest, timber, years, and everything in sight,

Except the One who held his breath and could require it that same night.

Thou fool, this night,

The ledger closes fast.

What good are bigger barns

When breath itself is asked?

Thou fool, this night,

Whose goods will all these be?

A life can overflow with things

And still be poor eternally.

He stored for himself,

But was not rich toward God.

His barns were full of future,

But his future was not his.

The warning left the story

And returned into the crowd:

Possessions cannot answer

When the soul is called aloud.

Thou fool, this night,

The ledger closes fast.

What good are bigger barns

When breath itself is asked?

Thou fool, this night,

The harvest cannot plead.

Life is more than what one owns,

And wealth is more than what one keeps.