Why do you work so hard on material things, if when you die you won’t take anything with you? There are many who accumulate wealth and become very attached to it, and when you die your body rots, worms eat your flesh and you do not take anything from this world to the next life.
This question confronts the reality of human life and exposes a truth that many prefer to ignore. From a very young age, society teaches us to pursue success measured by possessions, money, and status. People invest most of their time and strength in working, saving, buying, and accumulating, believing that material abundance will give them security, happiness, and peace. However, Scripture constantly reminds us that earthly life is fragile and temporary, and that everything we see and touch will one day disappear.
It is evident that the human being is vain in a great way, his thoughts are only set on obtaining wealth, on having everything as much as he can, and they forget that God is in heaven and that one day their lives will come to an end.
This vanity blinds the heart and leads many to live as if this world were eternal. When God is removed from the center of life, riches quickly take His place. People begin to trust their bank accounts more than the Lord, their jobs more than His providence, and their possessions more than His promises. This attitude not only distances the soul from God, but also creates anxiety, fear, and dissatisfaction, because material things can never truly fill the spiritual emptiness of the human heart.
There is a biblical verse that teaches us about those who only put their trust in riches and why we should not do that:
For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.
Psalm 49:17
This is a psalm from the sons of Korah speaking of the foolishness of rich, poor and common men. In this teaching we can see that the man who has his trust in wealth, but at the end of his life takes nothing, he gets tired of accumulating and in the end another keeps what he has collected for so many years.
Psalm 49 clearly teaches that death makes all men equal. Whether rich or poor, wise or foolish, no one can escape the moment when they must leave everything behind. Houses, lands, gold, and honors remain on earth, passing into the hands of others. This truth should move us to reflect deeply on where we are investing our lives and what truly matters in the eyes of God.
The Bible does not condemn work, effort, or prosperity when these are obtained honestly and with gratitude to God. What Scripture warns against is the love of riches and the false security they offer. When wealth becomes an idol, it enslaves the heart and leads the person away from humility, compassion, and dependence on the Lord.
Beloved brothers, it is not bad to have riches on earth, but let us not allow the desire to obtain riches to separate us from God, because then it will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth when we stand before our God judging us and we ask ourselves why we abandoned him Him for material things. God be merciful to us.
Let us therefore seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, storing treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt. A life centered on God brings true peace, purpose, and hope that goes beyond the grave. Only what we do for the Lord will have eternal value, and only a heart surrendered to Him will find rest both now and forever.