Anna, you really have dollar signs in front of your eyes tonight, don’t you?” said Grandpa. Three-year-old Anna was dancing around the room, holding a dollar bill tightly across her eyes.
“Yep,” she said confidently, “I’ve got lots of dollars and lots of monies, and I’m going to the store to buy a dolly, and all the candies, and all the pops, and all the gums!”
One of Anna’s older brothers had given her four one-dollar bills and four quarters in exchange for her model horse that he wanted for his farm. Anna had big plans for that money. And we do the very same. We sometimes have things that we value, and we build big plans around them. But our Lord Jesus asked a searching question: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36,3736For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36‑37).
Anna was very happy with her money. When someone would suggest that she give it to her mommy or daddy to keep safe for her, she’d stuff it all back into her jumper pockets and insist that she could take care of it herself. But a minute later it would be out again, sometimes in her hand, sometimes on the floor, sometimes in a little heap on the couch. The Lord Jesus knows so much better than we do how to keep both us and our possessions safe. The Apostle Paul realized that when he said, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:1212For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12). The only safe way is to give ourselves and all we own into the Lord’s hands for His saving grace and keeping power.
Anna told us several times how she was going to spend her money. “I’ll eat all the candies, all the gums, and all the pops right down into my tummy,” she said, tipping her head back and pointing one chubby little finger into her mouth. “Nobody will have any left. The lady at the store will have to say, ‘It’s all gone.’ Won’t that be sad?”
Anna’s plans for her money were short-term. She was not going to save any of it in a piggy bank for later. She wanted everything it could buy right now. This is how young children think. But some of us who are a little older think the same way. Our plans are all short-term. We would rather not think about long-term plans. We would rather get all we can of what the world offers and not worry about long-term plans for the needs of our souls.
Some day not only all the candy, pop and gum will be gone, but so will bikes, sports, clothes, cars, and money! Everything will be gone! “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:1010But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10).
Where will that leave you? With a lost soul?
That’s really a scary thought!
While you still have the opportunity, why not settle those long-term plans with God right now. He loves you and wants you to be positively sure that when everything else is gone, your soul will be safe in heaven with His Son, Jesus Christ.
ML-03/10/1991