1 Way Only--You Can't Take It With You

You Can't Take It With You--by Kimberly B. Southall

Stuff, stuff, and more stuff. If you watch much television, you see countless commercials for all sorts of things they would like for you to think that you just have to have--and the sooner the better, too. Then you go to school or to play with your friends, and they possess something you'd like to have, too. It goes on and on--this temptation for you to get more stuff. Perhaps you already have so much stuff that you can't quite figure out where you should put it all. Maybe you need a bigger storage area or a bigger house for your stuff . . . Or maybe you should think twice about your stuff and what it's really worth.

Jesus once told a story about a rich man which should shed some light on this subject:

. . . "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 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 all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things 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 anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." –Luke 12:16-21 (NIV)

You see, what Jesus was trying to teach us is that, while it's okay to have the things we need and even some of things we want in addition to what we need, we shouldn't focus all of our attention on those things. Why not? Because someday when our earthly lives are over, we will not be taking that stuff with us. This is why the rich man was called a fool. It is foolish to concentrate on all the things which won't last into eternity and ignore the eternal things which really matter. Most importantly, God should be the focus of our attention. He is the One who allows us to have all the things which we possess right now, anyway!

Always remember that God loves you and He is the One you should place first in your life—not your stuff or the desire to get more. After all, when your earthly life is over, you can't take it with you. But if you've lived your life for God according to His Word, He will always be with you.