Fool’s Gold

“And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid

up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’

But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be

required of you; then whose will those things be which you

have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself,

and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:19-21).

I read an interesting story in the Encyclopedia of Sermon

Illustrations about some men who, years ago, went to Alaska

to search for gold. Some penetrated far into the interior, and

there they discovered a miner's hut that seemed as quiet as

a grave. Entering it, they found the skeletons of two men,

and a very large quantity of gold on a rough table. There was

also a letter that told about their successful hunt for gold.

They were so eager to get gold that they ignored the early

coming of winter. The more they mined the more gold they

found. Suddenly one day, a fierce snowstorm struck. They

could not escape the blizzard conditions. Their food ran out.

They were unable to move about in their cabin. They

became so weakened that they laid down to die, surrounded

by all that gold.

Truly, there are many, many people like those two foolish

miners. They labor and strive for wealth and prosperity, and

then suddenly, the icy hand of death is on them, and what

have they to show for their labors? Jesus asks a very

important question, and all of us need to consider and

answer it. He said, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains

the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man

give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26)

Aaron Veyon