Monday: You Can’t Take it With You
Someone once asked famous evangelist Billy Graham what surprised him most about life, now that he was old (Graham was in his 60s at the time). Graham’s answer? “The brevity of it.”
No question, life does go by quickly.
What do the following texts teach about human life here? Psalm 49:17; 1 Timothy 6:6-7; Psalm 39:11; James 4:14; Eccles. 2:18-22.
Not only does life go by quickly, but when you die, you take nothing with you, at least of the material goods that you have accumulated. (Character? That’s another story.) “For when he dies he shall carry nothing away” (Psalm 49:17, NKJV), which means that he or she leaves it behind for someone else to get. Who will get it, of course, depends upon what plans are made beforehand.
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Though, of course, not everyone has an estate per se, most people, particularly as they have worked through the years, have accumulated some wealth. In the end, what will happen to that wealth after you pass on is really an important question that people should consider.
For those who have possessions at the end of life, no matter how great or small our goods might be, estate planning can be our final act of stewardship, of carefully managing what God has blessed us with. If you don’t have an estate plan that you have created with a will or trust, the state’s or civil government’s laws can come into play (all this depends, of course, on where you live). If you die without a will, most civil jurisdictions simply pass your assets on to your relatives, whether they need them or not, whether or not they would make good use of the money, and whether or not you would have chosen to give a portion to that person. The church will get nothing. If that’s what you want, fine; if not, you need to work out plans beforehand.
In the very simplest terms, we can say that because God is the Owner of everything (see Psalm 24:1), it would be logical to conclude from a biblical perspective that when we are finished with what God has entrusted to us, we should return to Him, the rightful Owner, what is left, once the needs of loved ones are met.
| Death, as we know, can come at any time, and unexpectedly, too, even today. What would happen to your loved ones were you to die today? What, too, would happen to your property? Would it be distributed as you would like? |
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Most of us hate the business of writing a will. We think there is something morbid about discussing what happens after you die. Having had to deal with a couple of deaths in the family in recent years, here are a couple of pointers that I think I have learned in the process:
1) Make a will. Dying intestate is a messy business.
2) Discuss your will with your family. It does not need to be a surprise. Surprises often end in costly court cases.
3) Bequeathing to the church or a church entity is something that should be considered but in any event, it should be something the family knows about. If you do not have that conversation with the family before you die, they will certainly have it afterward. (I have told the story before of the relative who left the farm to the church when the farm was his son's sole source of income.)
4) Try and make sure that your financial affairs are documented and understandable by those who are the executors of your will. Chasing the financial arrangements of dead people is time-consuming. What do you think I have been doing for the last 6 months? My deceased father-in-law left us with a few financial puzzles to solve and even now we are still trying to close down bank accounts and find where money has been secreted. The real issue is that this has a flow-on effect on my mother-in-law who is in care.
4) Other things that need to be considered are how and where you want your body to be disposed of.
Each person's case is different and I am well aware that there are going to be cultural and socioeconomic circumstances that come into play here, but, simply put, a bit of preparation beforehand makes a difficult time easier for everyone concerned.
A living trust keeps your loved ones from being tied up in the courts for years, which a living will does not. It is my belief that the SDA conference Trusts are such an entity. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:21.
That is so sad about the father leaving the son's inheritance to the church. I would think that the church leaders would have felt bad about that and given it back to the son.
I’m thinking there should be a document or file labelled “When we are deceased”. It should include a list of all current storage places of income (banks, 401Ks, etc), will, and a list of the location of deeds and titles.
And may be a laymen’s description of what the executor is, and an explanation of who gets what.
It is called an Executor's Dossier. You list (and keep up to date) where all of your accounts are held and what your assets are. Let your executor know where you have kept that document. It will make his/her job easier and cost the estate less money in administration fees.
Making arrangements about the things one leaves after death is not a regular thing I see people doing, even in church. But, it is very rational to plan ahead. I think this may solve a lot of the troubles that I often hear about from people in the thanking/asking round on some of the adult Sabbath School classes, when people ask for prayers regarding a death inventory that they are dealing with. According to the Bible there is nothing of material things we can take with us when we die. Thus, leaving legal matters arranged in life is a sign of organisation and purpose.
Thank you for the above comments. I’m ashamed to say that when I had my will done, I was so concerned that I got everything right that I failed to think about God and my church. I am very grateful for this lesson and the comments above; they are always a blessing.
Hi Wendy, I am sure you know you can always change a will.
I can only imagine how anxious an unredeemed, wealthy person might become when reflecting on leaving everything behind at death. As good stewards of God’s increase during the believers’ lifetime, I consider that it is prudent to order our spiritual and material life to always be prepared for a sudden departure.
Prov.22:1 - ”A good name is better than great riches; and good favor is above silver and gold.” I consider ‘being a good steward’ includes knowing when one has enough to live comfortably, unless there is a greater, benevolent purpose for using that which one labors for. I think the most devastating ‘inheritance’ to leave behind for one’s family is indebtedness.
My parents, especially my mom, took great care to prepare herself and her loved ones for her departing day by writing everything down. From what to wear, the casket and flowers, instructions about the grave site, etc., even setting aside in an envelope the funeral expenses which included a special note of gratitude to the pastor who conducted the funeral.
In the end, there was nothing left to take care of because she decided to pass on to us during her lifetime that which she deemed good and helpful. She enjoyed participating in our lives by extending her help in any way she could; she was selfless in all her pursuits.
We can't take our money with us to heaven. I've heard it said the only thing we can take is our character which is true, but if we use our resources to share Jesus with others then we can take our character and our friends with us to heaven.
Has anyone considered the riches that await us when Jesus comes to take us home? Nothing we have now that will be left behind can compare!
John 14:3