David Wayne Sharpton, 54, has won the Georgia lottery three times—raking in $350,000 in 2004, $1 million in 2005, and $2.5 million in 2007. The repeat winner continues to work at his job as a restaurant-oven repairman, even though his winnings have provided more than enough money for him to retire. “Am I the luckiest man alive?” he asks. “I suppose so. I’ve got a pretty good circle of friends, a wonderful job, and a beautiful wife.”

Now that’s a guy who is not drunk with the elixirs of wealth and greed. His feet are still set firmly on the ground. The same, however, cannot be said of the rich farmer in Luke 12.

Valuing wealth correctly and the disastrous results of greed were the themes in Jesus’ parable of the rich fool. The farmer misjudged what was truly valuable in life. He thought having possessions was more important than great relationships with God and people (v.21). He chose wrongly about what was truly valuable in life and became a slave to what he valued most—things that could be stolen, eaten up, and destroyed (Matthew 6:19-21), and things he couldn’t take with him when he died (1 Timothy 6:7).

The farmer misjudged who truly owned his possessions. He used the personal pronouns I, me, and myself a total of 12 times in this brief story. He forgot that he was a manager and not an owner. He also failed to grasp the brevity of life. At the height of his fortune, God judged him and he died—leaving it all behind. What a tragic ending!

Two masters—God and money—are vying for our allegiance. Let’s be on guard and judge correctly—choosing to serve and obey the One who created the other.