TODAY IS…

the day to teach others how to use what you can’t take with you.

“For when they die, they take nothing with them. Their wealth will not follow them into the grave.”  Psalm 49:17 NLT

Temple assistants wrote Psalm 49 to help people understand that worldly wealth and possessions will not accompany them after death, nor will they act as a ticket to everlasting life.

Wealth cannot save us from death in this world, and we know this.

Since we can’t take it with us, then we should be concerned about who we are leaving it to, because God surely will be paying attention. Individuals who are welcomed into heaven have accepted Christ as their savior, have worshiped only God, and have treated others with love and kindness. Not all become financially successful during their lifetimes, but a good number of them leave behind great amounts of wealth.

Unfortunately, what they may have overlooked was the preparation of those who would be the recipients of their wealth upon their death, and while it may have been important to the individual leaving this world that his good fortune be generously shared with those less fortunate, that same individual may have forgotten to teach his or her children how to receive the gift that is left and what to do with it once they have it.

We must make sure that our children learn the importance of sharing what good fortune they may have with others. Teaching them about the sins of greed and the rewards of generosity is crucial to their development. We must teach them, as Paul instructs Timothy, that any material wealth we have should be used for the betterment of those around us, and he explains to Timothy what real wealth is.

“Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.” (1 Timothy 6:6 NLT).

Of course, many individuals can’t see beyond the value of material wealth sitting in front of them and are reluctant to give it away. How does one determine when we are to give it away? How does one determine when we have “enough”?

Paul says, “So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.” (1 Timothy 6:8 NLT).

We want to make sure that our children learn to love people more than money, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10 NIV).

Start spending time today preparing your children to receive what you cannot take with you when you die. Teach them to share what you leave and tell them that, “In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:19 NIV).

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson