You Can’t Take It With You

“You can’t take it with you!” You’ve heard that saying, haven’t you?  No matter what you amass in this life—wealth, possession, power and fame—it will all stay outside the box on the day they lower your cold, clammy body six feet under. I have conducted dozens and dozens of funerals in my time as a minister, and I’ve yet to see a hearse pulling a U-Haul behind it.  And it will always be that way.  Why?  Simply because of this one inalterable truth:

You can’t take it with you!

That’s exactly right: You can’t take it with you! Many have tried but the failure rate year in and year out continues to hover around 100%!

I spoke with a friend this week who has gone through a pretty rough three-year stretch—and when I say rough, just imagine the worst.  Yet he seems to be doing well.  So I asked him, since God promises to bring good out of what causes us grief, what good had he seen in his Job-like experience?  Without hesitation, he said his challenges had brought him closer to the Lord, had driven him to God’s Word—which he now loves passionately—had thrust him into the Christian community like never before, and had taught him that the loss of his six figure salary had no effect whatsoever on God’s track record of providing for his daily bread.  He had found wisdom—and nothing he had previously held dear could come close to that!

That man had found true wisdom—more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

In our culture, it is so easy to get caught up in the chase for the temporal—fame, fortune, pleasure and possessions.  If that might be the case for you, I would challenge you to read Proverbs 3:13-20, and let the Word of God recalibrate your instruments, or at some point, you’re going to come in for a really rough landing.

“Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains
understanding, for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.”
~Proverbs 3:13-14

Your Assignment, Should You Choose To Accept It:

Read Proverbs 3:13-20, then on a piece of paper, write down in one column the benefits of pursuing and attaining wisdom.  After you have done that, write down in another column the benefits of pursuing and attaining money, pleasure, power and things.  The answer will be obvious, but it serves as a good reminder: Five minutes after your death, which column of benefits will matter then?