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bigmike

DAILY DEVOTION
Send It Ahead
But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
Ecclesiastes 5:14-16
Although the term is not commonly used today, in nineteenth-century England the dead were often buried in a shroud—a simple cloth rather than the regular clothing people wear today. From this practice came the saying, first printed in English in the 1850s, “There are no pockets in a shroud.” The point is clear: we cannot take our possessions with us beyond the grave.
Solomon observed this same reality long before the saying was ever coined. No matter how much a person gains through labor, he leaves this world with nothing in his hand. All that he has worked for remains behind, unable to follow him into eternity. To live only for what can be seen and held is, as Solomon wrote, like laboring for the wind.
Though the things of this world are only temporal, it is easy for our lives to become centered on them rather than on the things of God, which are eternal. The world holds up those who accumulate wealth, prestige, position, and power, but none of these are truly lasting. Instead, our lives should be focused on what truly counts—not just for the moment, but for eternity. We should invest our time, our talent, and our treasure in things that matter. Jesus said, “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:20–21).
Only what we invest in eternal things will truly last forever.
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