Luke 12:21 (DBY)

Passage

Thus is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Nearby Context

Luke 12:19 and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good things laid by for many years; repose thyself, eat, drink, be merry.

Luke 12:20 But God said to him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?

Luke 12:21 Thus is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Luke 12:22 And he said to his disciples, For this cause I say unto you, Be not careful for life, what ye shall eat, nor for the body, what ye shall put on.

Luke 12:23 The life is more than food, and the body than raiment.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thus", "lays", "treasure", "himself", "rich", and "toward". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thus" and "lays", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "But God said to him Fool this..." into verse 22's "And he said to his disciples For...", so "thus" and "lays" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thus" and "lays" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.