You Can't Take It With You
We NEEDED a break! Teaching during COVID was draining, and my family needed to escape during Christmas vacation. It was a whole week of quality time with the family. Our escape is always to my in-law’s condo in the mountains of New England. It was quiet, peaceful, and just what the mind, body, and soul needed. We had no idea what was awaiting us when we got home.
As we walked into our house, our eyes fell upon the kitty poo all over our living room carpet. I thought to myself, “He was taken care of while we were gone. What would make him do such a thing?”
His water dish was filled to the brim, his food dish was full, and his litter was clean. Then my husband came up from the basement, and stated, “I know why the kitty messed all over the living room. The entire basement is flooded. “
The basement was a mess. Water marks showed us that there was at least 4 inches of while we were gone. The mess was massive. Bins had been knocked over and filled with water, destroying the contents inside. One bin in particular had several sentimental items inside, including irreplaceable keepsakes from my late husband. Needless to say, my peaceful vacation mindset had disappeared and was now replaced with devastation.
What are we teaching our students about what is most valuable? Ellen White tells us, “True education is the inculcation of those ideas that will impress the mind and heart with the knowledge of God the Creator and Jesus Christ the Redeemer. They may gather all the knowledge that books can give, and yet be ignorant of the first principles of that righteousness which could give them a character approved of God.” (Messages to Young People Ch.48)
The truth is, we will not be able to take any of our treasured earthly possessions with us after this life. The only item that we can take to Heaven is our character. Our character has eternal value. Everything else is really obsolete.
I think of Lot’s wife, and how she built a life in Sodom. How many of us would look back? How about our students? The things of this world are fleeting. In that moment of returning home to a flooded home, I failed to remember this important lesson.
Look forward friends, and help our students to do the same!
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”