Matthew 6:21
A Terrible Deathbed
I once read of a man who bought a luxurious house and filled it with expensive and spectacular furnishings. After taking a friend on a tour through its many spacious rooms, the owner of the mansion asked proudly, “Well, what do you think of it?” He expected to hear lavish praise, so he was stunned when his quest responded, “It is gorgeous; but to be perfectly frank, things like this make a deathbed terrible.”
Material Things
The apostle Peter warned that the earth, and all “the works that are in it, shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). With this truth in mind, he went on to say, “Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness.?” (v. 11). Because material things are transient, we ought to set our affection on “things above” (Col. 3:2).
Don’t Hang Your Heart on Things
One day I saw a little boy throw a temper tantrum in a store. He wanted a dump truck, but his mother said no. So Junior howled louder and louder until the mother, embarrassed, bought the toy. As I watched, I thought of what my mother told me when I was young. She said, “Don’t hang your heart on things!” I’ll admit that at times I rebelled against that idea, but today I’m deeply grateful for her advice. And I think it should be displayed as a motto in every home: DON’T HANG YOUR HEART ON THINGS.