“Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; 17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.” (Beauchamp translation: “He can’t take it with him…”)
Echoing the above text, Job said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, praise the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21 (CSB) The Christian comedian, Dennis Swanberg said: “Here’s a simple test: if you can see it, it’s not going to last. The things that last are the things you cannot see.” The great figure of the Reformation, Martin Luther, wrote: “Many things I have tried to grasp and have lost. That which I have placed in God’s hands I still have.” The point here is that there is nothing that you can amass in this world that you can take to the grave or to your eternal destiny with you. One of my favorite sayings is that: “You never see a U-Haul behind a hearse.” Two men were talking about one of the men’s wealthy relatives who had died. The friend was asked, “How much did he leave?” His answer was, “all of it.” I want you to stop and think about this with me: When we die, it will not matter what kind of clothes they bury us in. It will not matter what kind of house we lived in, whether a mansion or a hovel. It will not matter whether we were considered winners or losers. It will not matter whether we were rich or poor. The only thing that will matter is whether or not Jesus Christ was our Savior. Some of you might not agree with this, if you do not believe in Jesus or in the Christian faith. In all candor I will tell you that I would not take your place for all of the wealth in the world. If I should be proved wrong, I would have nothing to lose. If you are proved wrong, you have everything to lose. The stuff that we accumulate here will lose its significance to us if we will just stop and think of how temporary it is. I read about a preacher who had been in the ministry for over fifty years. He had all of the paraphernalia of those years in the ministry stored in his basement. This would include sermon notes, records of marriages and funerals, awards that he had received, etc. One day a water pipe burst in his basement and everything stored there was totally destroyed. He wrote that he sat on the basement stairs and looked at the mess and cried. As he did this he began to think about what had really counted in all of these years of ministering to people. He decided that all that he had lost in the basement was just “stuff.” It was stuff that he had accumulated, but the fact that it was destroyed by water proved that it was not eternal. What really counted was all of the people who had become Christians during his ministry. What really counted was all the lives that God had used him to touch through personal ministry, e.g. preaching, teaching, weddings, funerals, etc. He was then able to drain the water from the basement and clean up the mess without a great deal of regret. He just realized that if he could hold it in his hands and call it “his,” it was not eternal and would not go with him to heaven. Thinking of this, I remembered that no one has ever come up to me years after I left their church and said, “Bro. Joe I will always remember the second point of that gem of a sermon that you preached thirty years ago.” What they do remember, and were blessed by, was that I was there, for example, when their father died, or when they were having problems in their family and I came and prayed with them, or when I witnessed to their children and they accepted Jesus as their Savior. These are the things that are “written up” in eternity. What is the “stuff” that you hold so dear to your heart? They might be precious family heirlooms, or expensive baubles, but you cannot take them with you when you go. It's like the fellow mentioned above when asked how much his wealthy relative left when he died sad, “all of it.” Exactly!!!! Think about it. Bro. Joe
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"Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases, 17. for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. 18. Though while he lived he counted himself blessed - and men praise you when you prosper- 19. he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life."
When I read this passage this morning, almost every joke that I have heard on this theme came to my mind. Here are a three examples: (1) Two men were talking about a very wealthy man who had died. One of the men was a close friend of the deceased. His friend asked him: "How much did he leave.?" His answer was, "All of it." (2) No one has ever seen a Uhaul trailer behind a hearse. (3) A wealthy oil man in Texas requested to be buried in his Cadillac. When he died his request was granted. They put his corpse behind the steering wheel of the Cadillac. As he was being lowered into the ground, someone was heard to say: "Man that's living." Guess what? It wasn't living it was dying. The man didn't take the Cadillac with him. Which reminds me of a line in an old song from my youth: "You can't go to heaven in limousine, cause the Lord don't allow no gasoline...." (Pardon that last one. I just couldn't help it.) Seriously, we really and truly cannot take anything with us when we go. All of our possessions stay right where they are to be meted out by our families. When a person dies, it does not make any difference what he is buried in, whether a suit or overalls. It doesn't make any difference whether he makes a "good looking corpse" or not. It doesn't make any difference how much property he owned, or how much money he had in the bank. The only thing that makes a difference is whether he knew Jesus Christ as his Savior!!! I really think that enough has been written on this subject. Think about it. Bro, Joe |
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