TWO Christian friends called on a wealthy farmer in Illinois one day. He took them up to the cupola, on the top of his house, and showed them farm after farm, stretching far away, on the right hand and on the left, and told them that all that land belonged to him. Then he took them to another cupola, and showed them great herds of horses, and sheep, and cattle, saying, as he did so,
"Those are all mine too. I came out here a poor boy, and have earned all this property myself."
One of his friends pointed up to heaven, and said, "And how much treasure have you laid up yonder?"
After a pause, the farmer said as he heaved a sigh, "I'm afraid I haven't got anything there."
"And isn't it a great mistake," said his friend, "that a man of your ability and judgment should spend all your days in laying up so much treasure on earth, and not laying up any in heaven?"
The tears trickled down the farmer's cheeks as he said, "It does look foolish, doesn't it?"
Soon after this, that farmer died. He left all his property for others to use, and went into the presence of God only to find that his love of money, and the wrong use he had made of it, had caused him to lose not merely the reward which he might have had in heaven, but his own soul as well. Death, like the big policeman laid his strong hand upon the rich farmer, and took him away. It is solemn to think that in hell he now waits that terrible judgment day, when he will be called before the great white throne and a holy God to be sentenced to the lake of fire forever.
Messages of the Love of God 9/14/1958