When John D. Rockefeller died in 1937, it was generally accepted that he was the richest man in the world. There were an enormous amount of people at his funeral, including family, friends, and employees from his many companies. There was also a large gathering of photographers, journalists, and newspaper reporters. One young journalist caught sight of Rockefeller’s chief accountant and asked him after the funeral, “Weren’t you Mr. Rockefeller’s accountant?” “Yes, I was,” he responded. “Tell me,” the journalist continued, “how much did he leave?” To which the accountant wryly responded, “All of it.” The accountant’s answer proves an important point when it comes to our material possessions: whatever we gain here stays here. A person can have all of the world’s wealth and riches, but it’s only temporary. Life is rapidly passing away, and no matter how big the bank account or how valuable the vault, none of it will count in the eternal world to come. And yet so much of our lifetime can be wasted by trying to accumulate and keep wealth. When we get caught up in what we can lay our hands on here, it’s easy to let go of the eternal truths we need to steer us through this life and lead us into the next. What an unwise decision to invest in the temporal rather than the eternal. Jim Eliot profoundly pointed out, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” You can’t take earthly wealth with you, but you can send it ahead by sharing and giving toward kingdom causes that have eternal value.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 15:57:08 +0000
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