I'm not the envious type but yesterday I saw the most beautiful car I think I've ever come across. I was leaving the gym after working out when I passed by a white, four door Jaguar. It was breathtaking, assuming you can say that about a car. I probably wondered about the cost and tried to calculate the price of insuring a masterpiece like this piece of automotive genius. But then I saw that a bird had left its droppings on it. And then I saw it was parked in the handicap space and had a disability tag on the rear view mirror. And I realized it was like every other car, not immune to the surroundings and the inevitable deterioration that stalks every automobile regardless of make or price tag or hood ornament. And I realized my health is better than the man or woman who owns the Jaguar and I can walk/run/swim/lift without assistance. And I resumed my return to my not quite new or pristine Honda Fit and was glad that very elegant car was not registered to me.
If you grew up in church as I did, you can undoubtedly quote Matthew 6, verses 19-21:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
The words of Jesus are no less valid twenty centuries past their utterance. A car's exterior will rust and its interior will mold no matter how proficient the paint job or how fine the leather seats. And even with security systems, thieves find a way to deprive the honest of their possessions. And no matter how hard we try to stay in shape at gyms or devour the latest health breakthrough in nutrition, we can't defeat the aging process. There is absolutely nothing wrong with owning a nice car or trying to keep our bodies svelte but that cannot be our objective in life. The bank in heaven is the only one that matters according to Jesus. Based on the Savior's teaching here in the Sermon on the Mount, some of us need a heart transplant, but we don't need a donor. We just need an investment strategy that focuses on the spiritual instead of the physical. I won't drive my car away from my funeral.
Applicable quote of the day:
"There is a spiritual hunger in the world today - and it cannot be satisfied by better cars on longer credit terms."
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