Verse of the Day - Ecclesiastes 5:15

We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
~ Ecclesiasted 5:15 (NLT)

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Grave-robbing has been around about as long as graves have been around. But the practice became really popular when people started thinking they could take their riches with them into the next life. Egyptian tombs were scavenged for treasure, and, boy, did those robbers make bank! It's kind of sad to think that those kings were so deceived -- not a single thing they put in their vault left with them when their spirits departed from their body. Not one single thing. Earthly robbers got it all.

It is a humbling thing to consider how we enter this world. Naked. Without anything. No attachments. And it can be a scary proposition to consider how we leave this world -- naked, without anything, no attachments. But, for those who are secure in the knowledge of their eternal Savior, Jesus Christ, this reality can be extremely liberating! No shame that needs clothing, no needs or wants that require money, no "baggage" that needs carrying. All of the cares and worries and junk that we accumulate in this earthly life is left behind -- gladly! And that which is of God that we have grasped and attained to in this earthly life will remain with us on into eternity with God and the saints...

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NLT)

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. ~ Matthew 6:20-21 (NLT)

Money is a tool, and you can't take it with you (you never saw a U-Haul trailer on the back of a hearse). Make the best use of what you do have by faith in God, focusing your energies and hope in the stuff that really lasts. Then, let the liberation begin!

Love,
Joelene