I once read about a man who bought a luxurious house and filled it with expensive and impressive furnishings. After taking a friend on a tour through the mansion's many spacious rooms, the owner asked proudly, "Well, what do you think of it?" He expected to hear lavish praise, so he was stunned when his guest replied, "It is magnificent; but to be perfectly frank, things like this make a deathbed terrible."

In the parable of the rich farmer (Lk. 12:16-21), Jesus told about a man who thought riches could satisfy his soul (v.19). But God called him a fool, and said, "This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?" (v.20).

If we cherish this world's goods so much that the prospect of heaven loses its attraction, we can be sure that the earthly has become more valuable to us than the heavenly. The "treasure" we possess is misplaced.

Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Mt. 6:21).

May the enjoyment of our temporal possessions never diminish the appeal of the eternal. Earth's affluence is poverty when compared to the glories of eternal life with God.  — Richard De Haan