Stockpiling Or Storing

Just exactly as he came, so shall he go. - Ecclesiastes 5:16

Rugs, lamps, a washer and dryer, even the food in the cupboards - everything was for sale! My husband and I stopped at an estate sale one day and wandered through the house, overwhelmed by the volume of belongings. Dish sets lettered the dinning room table. Christmas decorations filled the front hallway. Tools, toy cars, board games, and vintage dolls crowded the garage. When we left, I wondered if the homeowners were moving, if they desperately needed money, or if they had passed away.

This reminded me of these words from Ecclesiastes: "Just exactly as he came, so shall he go" We're born empty-handed and we leave the world the same way. The stuff we buy, organize, and store is ours only for a while - and it's all in a state of decay. Moths munch through our clothes; even gold and silver may not hold their value. Sometimes "riches perish through misfortune", and our kids don't get to enjoy our possessions after we're gone.

Stockpiling possessions in the here-and-now is foolish, because we can't take anything with us when we die. What's important is a proper attitude toward what we have and how we use what God has given. That way we'll be storing up our treasure where it belongs - in heaven.

Whatever we possess on earth

We have to leave behind;

But everything we give to God

In heaven we will find. - Sper

Letting go of earthly possessions enables us to take hold heavenly treasure.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8-17

If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over then both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.

As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.

I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him.

Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.

This too is grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind?

All his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.

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