When the journey ends

Every journey has an ending. Some journeys are short. Others last for many decades. We begin life knowing almost nothing about the road ahead. We grow, learn, work, form relationships, make decisions, and experience victories and failures, and gradually we collect a lifetime of memories. Along the way, we also collect things: a first bicycle, a first car, a home, furniture, books, photographs, money, perhaps a business or land or investments, perhaps awards and certificates. These are often things that took decades of hard work to obtain.

There is nothing inherently wrong with possessing them. The problem begins when we forget that they are temporary.

The man who prepared everything except himself

Jesus told the story of a wealthy man whose land produced so well that he ran out of room to store his crops. He asked himself what to do, and his answer was to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. Then he would say to himself:

Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said to him:

Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

The tragedy was not that the man had possessions. The tragedy was that he had prepared for everything except the end of his life. He had prepared his barns, but had he prepared his character? He had secured his financial future, but had he prepared for eternity? He had accumulated possessions, but what had he accumulated within himself? Jesus tells the story to a man in the crowd who wanted help with an inheritance, and He begins with a warning: “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). That question reaches far beyond one wealthy farmer.

Nothing in our hands

Death removes distinctions. The rich and the poor eventually stand at the same doorway. The famous and the unknown face the same reality. The powerful discover that earthly authority has an expiry date. The person who owned ten houses and the person who rented one room both leave this world without taking either with them. Job knew this:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.

Solomon looked at the same fact after pursuing everything that wealth could buy:

As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return, To go as he came; And he shall take nothing from his labor Which he may carry away in his hand.

And the psalmist adds a calm instruction to those who are impressed by the wealth of others:

Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased; For when he dies he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him.

We came into this world with nothing, and we leave it with nothing material. So why do we spend so much of our lives concentrating on what we possess and so little on what we are becoming? Perhaps because possessions are visible, and character is not. We can see a beautiful house; we cannot immediately see humility. We can see an expensive vehicle; we cannot see integrity. We can see someone’s clothing; we cannot see their motives. We can count someone’s money; we cannot count their capacity to forgive.

Two men who chose differently

The Bible gives us people who faced this choice and chose in opposite directions. Moses had every advantage that Egypt could offer. The letter to the Hebrews says of him:

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

Moses had weighed the treasures of Egypt against the people of God, and he had decided what would last. Demas stands on the other side. Paul names him among his fellow workers (Philemon 24), and near the end of his life Paul writes sadly:

For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica.

Both men lived in the same world, and both were offered the same kind of treasure. One looked ahead and the other looked around. What each loved shaped what each became.

Treasures in heaven

Jesus answered the question of what lasts by teaching His disciples to lay up treasure in heaven:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This does not mean that believers send money ahead as payment for salvation. Eternal life is God’s gift in Christ. Jesus is teaching us to place our trust, love and priorities in God’s kingdom.

We invest in what lasts when we use the resources God has entrusted to us with generosity and care: giving to people in need, serving without seeking applause, speaking truthfully, praying, and using our abilities to bless others. Jesus connects giving with a sincere heart that seeks the Father rather than public recognition (Matthew 6:1-4). Paul urges those who have material means to be generous and ready to share, “storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Our influence on other people can also bear lasting fruit. A word of encouragement, patient teaching, practical help or a faithful witness may help someone turn toward Christ. We should never treat people as trophies or claim that we can save them; salvation belongs to God. Yet Paul describes the believers he served as his hope and joy in the Lord’s presence (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). The joy is in God’s work in their lives, not in possessing them.

The word of Christ, prayer and daily fellowship with God shape the character from which these choices grow (Colossians 3:1-3, 16). Scripture does not present memories or personal accomplishments as possessions carried into heaven; it directs our hope to Christ, the resurrection and the life He gives. A simple way to begin is to ask: What has God entrusted to me today? Who can I serve? What good can I do without needing recognition? Then take one faithful step, and trust Christ with the result. These actions do not earn a place in heaven. They are the fruit of a heart learning to treasure God and love the people He places in our path.

God’s reward for faithfulness

Scripture also teaches that God sees and graciously rewards faithful service. This does not mean that salvation is a wage we earn. Ephesians 2:8-10 holds the truths together: salvation is God’s gift, and those made new in Christ are created for good works. Paul also says that every believer will appear before Christ:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Our works do not purchase God’s favour. They matter because our faithful response to His grace matters to Him.

The New Testament uses several crown images. Christians often group them as five crowns, though Scripture does not present a single formal list of five separate awards. Paul uses an imperishable crown to picture disciplined perseverance (1 Corinthians 9:24-25). He calls the believers he served his hope, joy and crown at Christ’s coming (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). The crown of righteousness is associated with those who love Christ’s appearing (2 Timothy 4:8); the crown of glory is promised to faithful shepherds (1 Peter 5:2-4); and the crown of life is promised to those who endure trial and remain faithful (James 1:12; Revelation 2:10). These passages use different images to encourage faithfulness, not to invite comparison or spiritual scorekeeping.

Some Christians call the judgement seat of Christ the Bema. The biblical emphasis is that Christ will bring our lives and service into the light and judge with perfect truth. Revelation 4:10-11 then pictures the elders casting their crowns before God’s throne. The scene directs every honour back to the Creator. Whatever reward God gives becomes another reason to worship Him, not a reason for pride.

So we may speak of treasures laid up in heaven, provided we remember what the image means. God is not keeping a heavenly bank account in which good deeds buy a place in His kingdom. He promises to honour lives shaped by grace: love freely given, truth lived out, service offered, trials endured and people encouraged toward Christ. The reward is God’s gracious recognition and the joy of belonging to Him, and Christ remains the centre and the source of our hope.

What God sees

We are very good at preparing for the future. We save for retirement, take out insurance, plan our holidays, maintain our vehicles, repair our houses, protect our investments and prepare our wills. All of these have their place. But how much time do we spend preparing the person who will stand before God? That is a far more uncomfortable question. Possessions can be replaced; character cannot simply be purchased. Money can buy a new house, but it cannot buy humility. Education can develop the mind, but it cannot automatically produce love. A position can give us authority, but it cannot give us integrity. Religion can give us a name, but it cannot necessarily give us Christlike character.

Samuel learned this when God sent him to anoint a king among the sons of Jesse. Samuel looked at the tall and impressive Eliab and was sure that he had found the man. God corrected him:

Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

God is not merely interested in what we appear to be. He is interested in what we actually are. That is why the question of character is so important, and it is where this book begins.