John was a farmer in the area where I grew up. Although almost eighty he appeared no older than about fifty-five. When the time for the harvest came, instead of standing around telling the young men how to load hay in the loft he showed them and worked in the hayloft and on the hay wagon with more vigor than some men half his age. John had children and grandchildren, a successful farm and incredible health. He had lived through two world wars and the great depression.
One day my dad was talking to John and asked, "John, what is the secret of your health?"
John said, "Well, Bill, every morning I have a teaspoon of honey with my breakfast. I don't drink or chase women. I'm honest; I lead a good life; to me that's the secret of a good and happy life."
John did a lot of good and wholesome things, but was his good health the result of his efforts? He reminds me of a rich man in the Bible: And He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16-2116And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16‑21).)
John had a lot of things going for him, but he never acknowledged God as the one who gives us everything that is good, nor that God was responsible for his vigorous, good health. John was not rich toward God; he was trusting in his own goodness to obtain happiness. The Bible says, The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, and, There is none that understandeth... none that seeketh after God... there is none that doeth good, no, not one.... There is no fear of God before their eyes.
One day John was working on the farm on the hay wagon, and he fell out. The farm hands figured John would just bounce up, but John didn't move—didn't speak. The farm hands called an ambulance and tried to help him breathe by performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The ambulance soon arrived and took John to a local hospital where he was placed on a machine to help him breathe. They found that John's neck was broken—John would never again be able to breathe on his own.
I'm very sad to tell you that John may have died without being rich toward God. The end of a Christ-less life is an eternity in hell, and that is not what God wanted for John or anyone else. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).)
What about you? Are you trusting in your good works or good health to get you to heaven? Only by trusting in Christ as the Savior for your sins can you be saved. The Bible says that the person who does this is really rich towards God, for God says in 2 Cor. 8:99For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9), For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.