Years ago I was a police chaplain in the city of Binghamton, New York, police department. Chaplain programs are very popular today. Police departments, fire departments, military, and other organizations wisely have chaplain programs.

I often was in the squad cars on Friday nights into the early hours of Saturday answering chaplain-related calls with my partners. One night, I will never forget it, my car got dispatched to a call really not chaplain-related, but we were available so went. I won’t tell you the occupation of the man. I won’t tell you the location in the city where we went. I will only tell you that it was a bitterly cold night. He and his wife were entertaining that evening and unwisely he had placed several bottles of alcohol out on his back porch.

Someone saw him doing this and stole it. He was furious. When my partner was taking the report, he had to ask the man the value of the stolen alcohol. I was stunned. The value of those several bottles was more than my total salary for the entire week.

My partner and I took the report, drove off, and both of us spoke of the lifestyle of someone who spent such money simply for entertaining. It reminded me of the illustration the Lord Jesus shared in His teaching. Let me simply share the Scripture and then I will send you on your way with a closing thought.

“And He spoke a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years: take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God’ (Luke 12:16-20).

Off you go for today. But first, just remember I am not against having a wonderful house, a great salary, or material blessings. Just remember the most important thing is where you will spend eternity. It brings everything else into right perspective. My partner and I were in a beautiful house that night. We stood in obvious abundance. Money was thrown around that surpassed my entire salary for the week. But without Jesus Christ, when that appointment comes, only eternity will matter.