FROM 401K TO 911K -- Devotional for May 3, from "Goods Seeds"

A man builds his life with gold, silver, and precious stones, or else with wood, hay and straw. On THE DAY of judgment the quality of each man’s work will be tested by fire. If it remains, he shall receive a reward. If it is burned up, he will lose his reward; he himself will be saved, yet so as by fire. (I Corinthians 3:12-15)

Some people live like the fabled grasshopper, working for the bread, and living for the pleasures, of today, fiddling his life away with little thought of tomorrow. But most of us prefer the ant as our model, knowing the value of working a little harder each day in order to store a little away for the future, when the harvest may not be as plentiful, and when we will not be as able to plant and reap. In other words, most people hope and plan to outlive their working years so they can spend their remaining years at the comfortably slower pace of old age R&R (relaxation and retirement). As safe and secure as investment packages such as the 401K are purported to be, economic downturns can happen at any time and totally destroy the retirement savings of even the most hard working and conservative investor. Overnight his 401K can turn into a “911K”! And what can calling this universal emergency hotline do for him at such a time? Strangely enough, the Bible doesn’t have much to say about retirement on earth – possibly because God’s intention is that we work here and retire in heaven! Oh, our production may lessen as our pace slows down, but there will always be something for God’s faithful saints to do or dare, if nothing more than sharing words of wisdom and occupying till He comes with fervent prayer. Not that we can draw a paycheck as a prayer warrior, but what is the expiration date on God’s promise to not let “His righteous ones beg for bread” (Psalm 37:25)? We spend far too much of our valuable time and effort on making a LIVING, while spending far too little of those precious resources on making a LIFE. And yet, in the spiritual realm, no one is a grasshopper – every man is an ant investing in his own future, his eternity future, by his thoughts and motives, words and deeds, attitudes and actions. What have you set aside, or rather sent on ahead, for your retirement in heaven? God says many will be surprised to find all that’s left of their heavenly 401K will be ashes and smoke, after exposure to God’s testing fires. And it will then be too late to call 911, asking God to put out the flames. After Believer’s Judgment Day, we will have no second chance to plan or prepare for our heavenly retirement. Our time will be up, for time will be no more. What will you do today to prepare for your eternal tomorrow?