There are few things that are a more blunt reality check than the axiom “you cannot take it with you”. So much of the way we think and live flies in the face of this universal certainty. Museums are filled with artifacts taken from the ancient graves of those who tried to defy this grim truth.
There is hope however. Although we can’t take physical things from this life to the next, we can store up great riches that will await our arrival in heaven. Much of the Bible’s message urges us to adopt this perspective.
One of the reasons Job inspires us is because it gives us a glimpse into life beyond our earthly circumstances. When faced with the worst of what life can offer, Job did more than just face reality. He worshiped.
In the end, everything belongs to the Lord. It is all His. One sure way to eliminate the temptation to “take it with us” is to simply acknowledge the reality that “it’s not ours in the first place.”
The goodness of the Lord is constant. Yet the circumstances of life are ever changing. Like Job, we are caught between trying to make sense out of the world we live in and trying to discern how to steward the life we’ve been given.
Job gives us a key to success. In all things, worship. Bless the name of the Lord, even when circumstances are difficult, tragic, and beyond our control. We are not blessing the circumstances, we are blessing the God who is Lord of them all. The circumstances will fade, but the God they point to remains forever.
“‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’”
– Job 1:21