Luke (whose case was not like this) I could
pity, methinks, if the Scripture would permit me, for he seems to
have been satisfied at last; he confesses he had enough for many
years; he bids his soul take its ease; and yet for all that, God
says to him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of
thee, and the things thou hast laid up, whom shall they belong to?"
Where shall we find the causes of this bitter reproach and terrible
judgment; we may find, I think, two, and God perhaps saw more.
First, that he did not intend true rest to the soul, but only to
change the employments of it from avarice to luxury; his design is
to eat and to drink, and to be merry. Secondly, that he went on too
long before he thought of resting; the fulness of his old barns had
not sufficed him, he would stay till he was forced to build new
ones, and God meted out to him in the same measure; since he would
have more riches than his life could contain, God destroyed his life
and gave the fruits of it to another.
Thus God takes away sometimes the man from his riches, and no less
frequently riches from the man: what hope can there be of such a
marriage where both parties are so fickle and uncertain; by what
bonds can such a couple be kept long together?
I.
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