"You can't take it with you..."
Last night I had a dream where I was dying. Kinda strange. But in the dream I was trying to give away a few rings that I wear. I wanted someone to have the rings as I felt the time ticking away to my death, but I couldn't find anyone who would take them.
Fortunately I woke up!
I thought about that dream as I got around this morning. Looking at the rings now, I realize that I will eventually die. Chances are these rings will end up in a box somewhere, forgotten.
Reading Luke 12
"And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'
"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
"This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:16-21 (NIV)
Most of us would not consider ourselves as rich as the man in this parable. But, we have possessions, nonetheless. We all have our things, our stuff.
Let's take a moment to look around at the stuff we own. At the things we spend our time, talent and treasure on. Then picture that day when you pass from this world to the next. What will become of these things?
I'm not saying that you should get rid of the things, that's not the point of the parable. However we do need to ask ourselves, "I have used my resources to acquire these things... am I just as rich toward God?"
