Psalm 49: You can't drive your Ferrari into Heaven

Illustration:
A man walks up to the door of a club and tries to enter.
The bouncer stops him and says "You're not allowed in here."
The man then replies "Don't you remember me, we used to be best friends growing up."
The bouncer replies "Oh yeah, I remember you. You're that guy that only talked to me when you wanted me to do something for you. Then once I helped you out I never heard from you again."
The man responds "I just got real busy with life. You know how it is."
The bouncer replies "Get out of my face!"
The man replies "Say hello to my friend Mr. Lincoln" as he pulls a $5 bill out of his pocket.
The bouncer says "No! You're not allowed in!"
The man then says "Well, then say hello to my friend Mr. Benjamin Franklin" as he pulls a $100 bill out of his pocket.
The bouncer says "Away from me, I never knew you."

In this illustration God is the bouncer and the club is Heaven. The man is a sinner. The point of this illustration is that many people wrongly believe they can get into Heaven by other ways than through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Basically psalm 49 says you're going to die and you can't take your stuff with you. When you die, your money is useless. It just gets passed on to someone else and it is no longer yours. This psalm makes it perfectly clear that no amount of money is enough to pay for sins. The only sufficient payment for your sins was through Christ's death on the cross. This truth should affect your thinking about the true blessings in life. Consider two men. The first man is very poor and barely has enough food to eat. Everyday of his life is full of suffering because of the illness that he has. However, he has a personal relationship with Christ. The second man is living life to the fullest. He is a multimillionaire with a huge house, fancy cars, hot wife, and is perfectly healthy. Everyone is so envious of this man's prosperity. However, this man is lost and does not know God. Which of these two men has God blessed the most? Many people in the world would say that God has blessed the wealthy man more, but we know as Christians that a poor man who knows Christ is far more blessed that a rich man who doesn't.

I know we all are guilty of sometimes being envious of what other people have. However, there is no reason for this, since the things that they have are temporary. Your faith in Christ is more valuable than anything else in life. This is the greatest treasure that you can possess. Those who trust in their riches will have no hope when they go to the grave, but as for me "God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself." Psalm 49:15.

This is not to say that being rich in itself is a bad thing. It is just a problem when a man has riches, but no understanding (verse 20). When a man puts his hope in his wealth instead of Christ, that is what brings his destruction. If a Christian becomes wealthy, they must trust in God first and seek to honor God with what they have. We are stewards of what God has given us, so the more we have, the greater the responsibility. We should always keep in mind what will really matter when we die. We should focus on the eternal things rather than the temporary. If you spent your money on a really nice car, that car has no eternal value. However, if you gave money to world missions and as a result lost people heard the Gospel and were saved, that does have eternal value. That is why giving money to God's purposes is so important. I'm not saying that you should never buy nice things, but I am saying always keep in mind what is truly important.

Bryan