Today’s readings are very direct and to the point. I think the lesson I can take from them is, don’t hold on to things that don’t last. I need to let go of what is passing. Many times, when we are economically stable, we can think like one of the rich men in the Gospel parable, saying to ourselves, “Now, as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” Yet God said to that man, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and all the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” (Lk. 12:16-21) It is an echo of the first reading today and also the psalm, “For when he dies, he shall take none of it; his wealth shall not follow him down.”
Keep the Goal in Mind: Heaven
Therefore, it is so important to keep the final goal in mind. I am not made to live forever on this earth. My forever home is meant to be in heaven. I need to work to keep that treasure in mind. What can I take with me to heaven? It will not be a nice house, a great job, a perfect car. It will not even be the people that surround me- each of us have the freedom to make our own choices, and in many relationships, we must also let go and let God do His work in their lives. So, what can I take with me? What will last for eternity?
What I Can Take with Me
In the Gospel today, Jesus gives a clear answer: “Anyone who gives you a cup of cold water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” Does this mean I just walk around giving people cold water? Does it have to be a cup, or could a water bottle count, too?
Stop! Refocus! It is not about the water. Look at the second part of this phrase: “because you belong to Christ.” In the good works we do, why are we doing them?
Love
In the first letter Paul writes to the Corinthians, there is a famous and often used passage about love. I think this passage gives insight into what we can bring with us to heaven. I encourage you to read this passage in view of eternity and what we can actually bring with us. “Love never fails…So faith, hope and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 12:31-13:13) What can I bring with me? I can bring love. My faith will be brought to fruition in Heaven. All that I have hoped for (eternal life, seeing the Lord face to face) will be a reality. But love…I will continue to love even in eternity. God’s desire for us to exist, the reason he created us free, is that he wants us to love Him. Love truly is an eternal act, it is the one thing we take with us to heaven. So, giving that “cup of cold water” out of love for God and those He had created out of love and for love, is the greatest richness you can store up for yourself. Letting go of what is passing here on earth and holding on to what lasts, that gives you blessings! “Blessed are the poor in spirit, the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs!”
