Guess you haven’t seen one either.  What is it?  A U-Haul trailer hooked up to the back of a hearse on the way to the cemetery!  Can’t take it with you, as we all know.  But do we? Seems to me that we all hold onto things with a tight grip.  My money…my house…my car…!  You name it,  it’s mine!

I remember hearing the story of a Texan with gobs of money, who died, and left instructions that he was to be buried lashed to the steering wheel of his old 1957 Cadillac. This old car even had bull horns soldered to the front as hood ornaments.  And there he was, the old guy,  wearing a 10-gallon hat, a string cowboy tie, and alligator boots strapped to the peddles.  As this ridiculous rig was being lowered into the ground, someone was heard to say, ‘Man, that’s living!’   Really?  Supposedly the senior John D. Rockefeller’s accountant was asked how much the multi-millionaire left when he died.  He was the richest man in the world in the 1930’s.  How much did he leave?  The accountant said that Rockefeller left it all,  every last dime!  Took nothing with him.  So will we.

Psalm 49:16- 17–‘Be not afraid when a man becomes rich…For when he dies he will carry nothing away;  his glory will not go down after him.’  In verse 20–‘Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.’   Not only do they leave all behind, but if ‘without understanding’, without a relationship with the Lord, it gets even worse.

For believers, the worst day we’ll ever have in this world, is the worst day we’ll ever have.  Verse 15–‘But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.’  Ransomed by the blood of Jesus, you are received safe and sound into God’s family.   To be ransomed is to be bought out of slavery.  In this case, as slaves to sin.  Sinful people cannot redeem themselves from their own sin.  Only the Son of God can,  who gave Himself as a ransom for our sins(see Mark 10:45).

I love that word ‘receive’–‘for He will receive me'(verse 15).  Not only do I receive the Lord Jesus into my heart,  but God Himself receives me into His presence.  What an honor!   No more sorrows, no more parting.  No more pain or suffering.   None of that… ever again.  His promises and His presence–those you will take to the grave and beyond…

Prayer:  Thank you, Jesus, for coming to this earth.  We honor you and love you, now and forever.  Amen.