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Key Bible Verse: Since everything around is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! (2 Peter 3:11). Bonus Reading: Luke 16:19-31

Jesus contrasted the rich man and the beggar in a parable [Luke 16:19-31] to show that what we carry from this life to the next isn't the same as what we consider important in this life. "Store your treasures in heaven," He said (Matthew 6:20). The word treasures triggers thoughts of a healthy bank account, equity in real estate, a pension plan, or articles a culture deems valuable. We don't need a mortician, financial planner, or theologian, though, to tell us that none of that kind of treasure goes with us.

Jesus' "treasures" are generally interpreted to be the good we do for others. True.

But what about myself? The person I'm becoming is one in whom the Creator has invested His image. To assume that what we become here doesn't flow into the future is to disregard the nature of creation. Because the quality of my life here transfers into everlasting life, who I'm becoming now matters greatly to who I'll be there. My investment in goodness and quality of my gift of life here will have ongoing resonance in the new creation.

That's why life is so critical, and not merely a time in which we're "just a passin' through."

—Brian Stiller in What Happens When I Die?

My Response: I'll inventory the treasures I'm storing up on earth, and in heaven.

Thought to Apply: Heaven is the continuation and expansion of a quality of life begun when a man's central confidence is transferred from himself to God.—J. B. PHILLIPS

Adapted from What Happens When I Die? (Piñon, 2001) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Give me a hint, Lord, of the splendor You've prepared for me when I graduate from this life.

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