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He who dies with the most toys wins - Luke 9:25
He who dies with the most toys wins - Luke 9:25
A popular bumper sticker stated: "He who dies with the most toys wins." Jesus stated: "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? Luke 9:25 (Now THAT would make a great bumper sticker but you will never see it!).
Jesus himself was tempted with such toys, not a FEW toys, but ALL OF THEM: “And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." (Luke 4:5-7)
The problem with such toys is that they turn our hearts and affection away FROM God. In fact, such desire for worldly possessions and the spiritual dangers that it posses for men was often the topic of Jesus’ teaching.
19 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."' 20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' 21 "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:19-21)
The rich man died and then cried out while being in torment: "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.' 25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.” (Luke 16:24-25)
Such desire to amass the most toys is simple greed and covetousness. Paul said “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5) Again he warned: “Those who are covetous will not inherit the kingdom of God (1Cor. 6:10; Eph. 5:5). He also commanded that “such greed is not to be named among us as Christians” (Eph. 5:3).
All that we will take out of this world at death is our relationship with God. ALL the ‘toys’ are left here. He who dies with the most toys loses. How many toys do you have? Is it enough? When WILL it be enough?
Hugh DeLong
