WHO WILL GET WHAT YOU PREPARED?

WHO WILL GET WHAT YOU PREPARED? “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?' (Luke 12:20) You know the story. The rich farmer had a bumper crop and made plans to “invest” his wealth in bigger barns. He “assumed” that he would live many years. He was wrong! He died that night! While many would admire him for his investments and wealth, the Lord said he was a fool. When he died, someone else would obviously get the wealth he left behind. This story from the Bible came to mind recently while reading of a middle aged couple in Northern California. They found a buried treasure in rusty coffee cans of 1,427 gold coins. This treasure has been named “The Saddle Ridge Hoard”. It is valued at $10 million. Obviously, whoever buried the gold is not here to enjoy it. Nor is it certain that the family that found it will get to keep it either. The Government is trying to prove that the money is theirs and was stolen from the San Francisco mint. The point is, someone buried it but never got to dig it up. Someone else found it but may have it taken away. Who is going to get it? This is truly something to think about. A similar story involves Joan Langbord of Philadelphia. She inherited gold valued at $80 million from the late Israel Swift who died in 1990. Judge Legrome Davis, of the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania, however, recently affirmed a 2011 jury decision that the gold is actually the property of the U. S. Government. Who will get it now? Perhaps it will next be transferred to China to help pay America’s trillions of dollars in debt. Legends abound to whet our appetites with the lure of buried treasure. Thousands have searched in vain to find the famous mine of the late Jacob Waltz. It is known as the “Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine”. Similar expeditions have been made to find the lost treasures of Montezuma, or the wreckage of the Spanish galleon San Miguel that sank in 1715 off the eastern coast of Florida. Each story has a familiar ring. Someone amassed a fortune and then died. The late Dick Youkey died of cancer in 1981. Not long before his death he preached a memorable message on the above text. He titled it: “Whose Shall Those Things Be?”. Among other things, he had inherited 40 acres in Markel, Indiana. Until he got sick he had planned to built a house there when he retired. When his terminal illness forced him to sell that property he was amazed at how many times it had already changed hands. He had naively assume it had been in his family forever. He was wrong! Today someone else has taken “temporary” possession of his inheritance. Soon they too will die and leave it to someone else. Suddenly it dawned on Dick that someone else would soon “get” everything he owned. This included his clothes, his shoes, his guns, his car, his house, and everything else he “owned”. Jesus said: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15). The late Randy Cordell was diagnosed with a terminal cancer during the pre-game hype for Super Bowl Sunday. His illness helped him to establish a new and better set of priorities. He shared with deep spiritual insight the sad story of a fellow cancer patient who was very happy because he had just received $50,000 from an investment. In three short weeks the “rich” man died, and Randy correctly wondered who was going to “get” all his money? Jesus said it like this: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt 6:19-21) What do you say?