Do You Believe This?

Psalms 49:16-20
(16) Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases.
(17) For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.
(18) For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed, --and though you get praise when you do well for yourself--
(19) his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light.
(20) Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Here in America we put a lot of weight on riches. We look to the men who seem to have it all. We have magazines dedicated to our celebrities. And yet, in the end, death will consume all of them.

We need to ask ourselves if we really believe this passage. Are we content with the praise we will receive upon death? Or are we hungry for what the world can give us? It sure is nice to get the praise and adoration of those around us at the time. It may even be warranted and not necessarily sinful. However, in the end, do we believe that the true reward comes later?

As I think more on this, I am reminded of something I saw on a Hollywood awards show. I don't remember which show, but I remember seeing Joan Collins on it. Here is a photo of Joan Collins back in the day. Here is a more recent one. It's hard to capture just how plastic her face is with a still photo, but basically she is doing all she can with cosmetic surgery to cheat aging and death. The problem is that no matter how great she looks, her body will still decay and she will die.

Death claims all of us no matter how rich, powerful, influential, or beautiful. I want to be ready for it.