A funeral hearse pulling a U-Haul truck?

A funeral procession was passing through a small town.  The wealthiest man in the community had died.  Two bystanders were watching on the street corner.  Speculating on the size of the rich man’s estate, one man asked the other, “How much do you think he left behind?”  

“He left it all,” came the answer. “He didn’t carry a single dime with him…Have you ever seen a funeral hearse pulling a U-Haul truck?”  

This story underscores the folly of those who spend a lifetime amassing huge fortunes while neglecting their spiritual growth.  The richest man in the world will take none of his possessions with him, not even the clothes on his back. Since “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” he won’t even take his body.  His only possession that will depart this world is his soul.

Jesus cautions against undue emphasis on worldly possessions: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  

The Master’s words reveal the existence of two storehouses: an earthly one and a heavenly one.  Riches in earth’s storehouse consist of property, land, money, power, prestige, and influence. The heavenly storehouse is an invisible kingdom that is built through faith, obedience to God, and the love of God and fellowman.

A rich man had a mansion on earth but only a tiny hut in heaven.  In contrast, the poor but righteous man who lived in a shack on earth found, to his surprise, that he had a mansion in heaven; he had provided all the necessary materials in advance: faith, obedience, and love.

The Jews tell the famous story of King Monobaz, who distributed all his treasures to the poor in the year of famine. His brothers complained to him that their forefathers gathered treasures and held them within the family, but that Monobaz had given his away.

Monobaz replied, “Thy fathers gathered treasures from below.  I have gathered treasures from above.  They stored treasures in a place over which the hand of man can rule, but I have stored treasures in a place over which the hand of man cannot rule. My fathers collected treasures which bear no interest.  I have gathered treasures which bear interest. My fathers gathered treasures of money.  I have gathered treasures in souls.  My fathers gathered treasures for others. I gathered treasures for myself.  My fathers gathered treasures in this world. I gathered treasures for the world to come.”

In summary, there are two worlds in which we must live: the present, with death being the door to the one beyond. It is foolish to prepare for this life only with no provision for the next.