The grass really isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence. Or, if it is, it may be- as Erma Bombeck said, – growing over someone else’s sewer tank! If that’s the case, then it could prove to be quite disastrous, and quite smelly!

Sometimes things are not exactly as they seem to be. There are sometimes opportunities that seem too good to be true, and very often they are. Countless are those who have been enamored with a get-rich-quick scheme, only to find out, too late, that they had lost everything by investing in a guaranteed unbelievable opportunity, only to find out that it really was unbelievable.

Jesus told of a man who had enjoyed a time of bountiful harvests. Listen to Jesus as He tells this story:

The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?” So he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.”

That sounds like a reasonable course of action, don’t you think? This sounds like a wise investment of time, energy, and resources. Just like that get-rich-quick offer that comes to your attention through a trusted friend. He has heard about this new investment opportunity, and has been so captivated by it that he sells almost everything he possesses in order to get in on the windfall that is a sure thing.

That is exactly what this rich man assumed: he assumed that since he had experienced record harvests that the trend would continue. So, “Let’s build bigger!” became his mantra. Which he did. However, there were other issues that he gave no thought to whatsoever. Jesus continues:

And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?”

This man did what so many still seem to do: place their hopes, dreams, and aspirations on things that are uncertain at best, and disastrous at worst. Granted, the investment may have proved to be accurate. Maybe his crops continued to experience high yield seasons for years to come. But he, personally, did not live to enjoy the fruits of his labors. So, as Jesus said, “Whose will those things be which you have provided?”

Are you living for earthly rewards? Are your sights set on things below, and not on things above? The Bible tells us to lay our treasures up in heaven, where they are safe and secure. So why do we spend so much time and energy on things that are passing away? The apostle Paul said to his friends in Colossae, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:1-2

I am not suggesting that it is wrong to have things. However, we should not live for the accumulation of things. Someone has flippantly said, “The one who dies with the most toys, wins.” My question is: Wins what? Because, you see, the one who dies with the most toys, still dies. It is appointed unto all men once to die, and after that they face judgment. Will the vast accumulation of “toys” stand up to that? Will God look with favor on our toys, if they were accumulated to the neglect of the weightier matters of eternal value?

I have served churches as pastor for 46 years. In that span of time I have officiated over many, many funerals. Not once, in all of those years, standing at the graveside of so many individuals, have I ever seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer, filled with the accumulated “toys” of the one being buried. No, he/she is going out of this world just as they came into the world: they brought nothing with them, and they are taking nothing out.

Let me close by encouraging each of you to take time to assess what treasures you are striving for, and which ones are paying the highest eternal dividends. Yes, by all means, enjoy this life to the full. But always remember: the treasures laid up in heaven are the most important treasures of all.

Blessings!