Gone!

Are you investing in gold? According to the "experts" you should be. Look at what the price of gold has done over the past few years. In 2001 gold was worth about $260/oz. Today it is worth about $1400/oz. How about real estate? Many "in the know" would say now is a time to snatch up some real bargains. Maybe stocks, it looks like the market is finally moving in the right direction. Why all this talk about investing? It has to do with the passage of scripture I was reading this morning.

I am reading through I Kings. I was reading chapters 6 - 8 where a description of Solomon's wealth is on display through what he built. As you know Solomon's wealth was greater than anyone has ever seen. In I Kings we see where Solomon builds two buildings. He builds the temple and he builds his personal home. Both are described as unbelievable works of craftsmanship. Solomon used a tremendous amount of gold in both. This was certainly an investment in something good right! This was something he knew would be a testament to God forever!

I Kings 6:19-22 - 19 He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. 21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

I Kings 7:40-50 - All these objects that Huram made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon left all these things unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined. 48 Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the LORD’s temple: the golden altar; the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence; 49 the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary); the gold floral work and lamps and tongs; 50 the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers;

Gold was used everywhere as well as bronze, cedar and precious stones. As I was reading these descriptions trying to figure out why all the details? Why all the lists of bowls, columns, tables, chairs? Why describe all of the decorations, the gold chains, the cedar walls, the gold flowers and palm trees? Maybe it was a great temple for God, a beautiful dwelling place for Jehovah. With all of this attention to detail it was a tremendous investment. But as I was reading this a thought popped into my head. The thought was "Where is all of this now?" "Where is the temple?" "Where are the bronze basins, the golden bowls, the lavish decorations?" Obviously they did not last forever. They are gone! The temple...gone! The beautiful things in the temple...gone! They were stolen, destroyed and possibly remade into something else. Take a look:

II Kings 25: 8 - 15 - 8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 10 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the LORD and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.

My point is the same thing is going to happen to our stuff. The stuff we "invest" in will one day be gone. Our home...gone! Our investment portfolio...gone! Our family heirlooms...gone! We have been warned about this:

Matthew 6:19, 20 - 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

In other words, all this stuff we value will one day be gone. With that said, what are you investing in? Are you investing in things this world says are valuable? Are you investing in gold, bronze, cedar and precious stones that will one day be gone or are you investing in things that have eternal value and can never be gone? Are you investing the the lives of those around you? Are you sharing the fact that stuff is temporary but life is eternal. Are you sharing the Gospel with those around you? The time to do this is now because before you know it we too will be gone!