1 Timothy 6:7

“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it, either.”

Ecclesiastes 5:15

“As he came naked from his mother’s womb, so he will return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.”

Suppose you’re meeting with your financial planner. He starts by asking, “So tell me, in what way would you prefer to lose your wealth?”

When someone dies, people may ask, “How much did he leave?” The answer is always the same: “All of it.”

Our wealth holding has a hidden timer. It will end. It may end due to death or financial misfortune. We just don’t know exactly when. This means our chance to do something with wealth is temporary. Once our chance is lost – it’s lost forever.

Anxiously hoarding wealth just to die with it makes no sense. We can’t take it with us when we go. Facing this reality gives us freedom. It allows us to live differently. We can hold things lightly. We can follow the instruction to live as

“those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” (1 Corinthians 7:30b-31 NIV).

Some people grip their wealth with a tight fist. They worry and strain to protect every penny. Others can hold wealth easily with an open hand. They know it will all disappear soon anyway.