It All Goes Back In The Box
James Dobson once told a story of his grandmother and how she was the most accomplished, ruthless Monopoly player on the face of the earth. Whenever she would visit, the family would dig out the Monopoly board, and by the end of the game she would take James’ very last dollar.
One year, a boy moved next door who was also an expert player, and after learning from this boy, by the end of the summer James was a Monopoly master. When Grandma returned, he was ready for her. This time, by the end of the game, James had taken her for everything she had.
In spite of this, while James was gloating, his Grandma told him that he had one more lesson to learn about playing the game. She said that when the game is over, no matter what the outcome, it all goes back in the box. In other words, James’ Grandma was teaching him a lesson about the uselessness of the amassing of wealth and material things.
King Solomon, one of the wisest and richest men who ever lived, also reminds us of the futility of the accumulation of possessions.
3What profit does man have left from all his toil at which he toils under the sun? [Is life worth living?]
4One generation goes and another generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
Moreover, in Ecclesiastes 12, Solomon paints a rather disheartening picture of humankind’s twilight years. He speaks of a time when the joints and muscles of even the strongest men weaken and they cannot stand straight, our eyes grow dim and our ears cannot hear as well. However, in light of everything depressingly spoken of regarding the aging of humankind, Solomon finishes by reminding us of what is truly the most important aspect of our human existence.
13All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is] and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man [the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God's providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun] and the whole [duty] for every man.
Jesus also addressed these issues when He was confronted by a man who was squabbling with his brother over an inheritance. What was Jesus’ response?
14But He told him, Man, who has appointed Me a judge or umpire and divider over you?
15And He said to them, Guard yourselves and keep free from all covetousness (the immoderate desire for wealth, the greedy longing to have more); for a man’s life does not consist in and is not derived from possessing overflowing abundance or that which is over and above his needs.
Jesus continues by telling a parable about a rich man who would tear down his barns to build bigger ones because he had amassed such abundant crops. He had enough to last him for many years, except there turned out to be a catch and it was directly related to man and his relationship to God.
16Then He told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man was fertile and yielded plentifully.
17And he considered and debated within himself, What shall I do? I have no place [in which] to gather together my harvest.
18And he said, I will do this: I will pull down my storehouses and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain or produce and my goods.
19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up, [enough] for many years. Take your ease; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself merrily.
20But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?
21So it is with the one who continues to lay up and hoard possessions for himself and is not rich [in his relation] to God [this is how he fares].
The Apostle Paul also wrote about the pursuit of riches and possessions as well as our relationship to God in the following passages.
6[And it is, indeed, a source of immense profit, for] godliness accompanied with contentment (that contentment which is a sense of inward sufficiency) is great and abundant gain.
7For we brought nothing into the world, and obviously we cannot take anything out of the world;
8But if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content (satisfied).
9But those who crave to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish (useless, godless) and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction and miserable perishing.
10For the love of money is a root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs.
11But as for you, O man of God, flee from all these things; aim at and pursue righteousness (right standing with God and true goodness), godliness (which is the loving fear of God and being Christlike), faith, love, steadfastness (patience), and gentleness of heart.
In summary, everything mentioned here does not mean we have to live as paupers. Nevertheless, as Christians, we must keep our priorities straight by making the accumulation of wealth and material things unimportant and our relationship with God priority number one in our lives. We do this knowing that when it is all said and done and our lives are over, no matter how much or how little we may have accumulated, it all goes back in the box.
God Bless!
“Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible”
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