As Everyone Comes, So They Depart

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

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

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.

I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.

Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.

This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind?

All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.

Ecclesiastes 5: 10-17

Solomon reminded us that “riches perish through misfortune.” Natural disasters, theft, and accidents may claim our dearest belongings. Even if we manage to protect them, we certainly can’t haul them with us to heaven.

It is possible to store up eternal heavenly treasure. Pursuing virtues such as generosity, humility, and spiritual endurance will yield lasting rewards that can’t be destroyed.

Treasures on earth can’t compare with the treasures in heaven.

Our Daily Bread – October 28, 2014