You Can't Take it with You

As teachers in Kuwait, we have mixed feelings about our status here. My wife and I are provided with a furnished apartment that is part of a 12 floor apartment complex, which is a great deal for us. There isn't much that we've had to add to it.  Because we can never become citizens of Kuwait, we can also make a reasonable assumption that we will not be here for the rest of our lives, but that is up to the Lord to decide. For this reason, we make do with certain things that are not our preference. Yes, we have spent money to buy things that we need and decorated some to make it feel like a home; we fix things that break, and add items that will make it more comfortable, but we are careful about accumulating too many things.

For example, we have these super ugly gold curtains that Stephanie has never liked but lived with for six years. Our dining table is a little wobbly and our chairs have seen some better days. We have also not bought certain items that would be difficult to bring back.  While it would be nice to have a brand new mixer or a high quality blender, we have lived without such things.  It would be great to buy a new desktop computer with a big screen, but we survive with our outdated laptops.  We would love to have a nice stereo system and a grill where we can enjoy good music and barbeques, but we live without them. I'm not saying that having any of these things is wrong, but that we live this way because we know "we can't take it with us."  Even the things we have bought, we will either sell at a fraction of the price we paid for them or mostly likely give them away. If we did try to keep some things, they would probably be damaged or destroyed in transport, and the cost of shipping would be not worth the stuff we have. 

Our time in Kuwait is a bit analogous to the Christian life.  In the same way that we try not to invest too much in our apartment in Kuwait, we should not invest too much in the things of this Earth.  Ultimately, none of us will be able to leave this life with any of the stuff that we have acquired on this Earth.  We won't be remembered for the quality of our curtains or the amount of toys we've collected over the years.  The Bible says that we've come into this world naked, and that is the way we leave it. If the value of the things we've accumulated in Kuwait will be greatly diminished when we decide to leave, how much less will the value of things on Earth be when we enter into our eternal home?  I think we will look back from heaven and say to one another and to ourselves, "Wow, I can't believe I invested so much of my time and energy in _______!"

Similar to the things we do have to make our lives a little easier or more efficient, there are things on Earth that do add value to our lives or are helpful and useful to us.  What we have to realize though is that we are only stewards and not owners of any of the things we have.  I do not own the furniture or apartment that I live in, but I am able to use it to serve the purposes of my family while I am living here.  I believe that we should be a bit reflective before we just run out and buy the latest gadget or replace our furniture at the first sign of wear.  I try to ask myself, "How will this help me serve the people around me better or grow closer to Christ?" before I make large purchases.  There are many things I have said yes to, because they either blessed my wife or enabled us to serve people more effectively, but there are also things I have said no or not yet to, because I thought our time and money could be better invested elsewhere.  This is where prayer, discernment and wise counsel come in. 

If we look forward to one day returning to a house that will still decay and things that will break down, how much more should we look forward to our eternal home!  We will live in mansions built by Jesus, we will have every desire of our hearts satisfied by Him, we will have bodies that will be literally perfect, and we will be with the people we love for eternity.  My prayer is that we would fix our eyes on that Place and that Person, so we can maximize our faithfulness and fruitfulness while we are on Earth.