People tend to have a lot of things to say about the person in the casket or urn at the funeral. However, as time marches on, that same person eventually is reduced to one short sentence.

Bob, he was a good man.

Bill, he had a bad temper.

Mary, she had a big heart.

Courtney, she was such a sweet person.

The fact that your entire life will ultimately be summarized in one sentence should be a sobering reminder of how fleeting life can be. You’ve most likely heard the proverb, “You never see a U-Haul trailer behind a hearse.” Prosperity doesn’t follow us to the grave.

It’s not only wealth that is passing. Fame, power, beauty, strength, and life are all fleeting. It’s not IF they will disappear; it’s WHEN.

Understandably, this is not a new message to any of us. However, sometimes our focus needs more focus.

According to James, one of the writers of the New Testament, it’s humility that helps us understand that our wealth, power, fame, and very lives are like a flower in the field that blooms and is beautiful, but in a matter of days or weeks will wither and be gone. That’s exactly what will happen to most of what we fight for, bleed for, work for, and pour so much time and energy towards…it will one day be gone.

It’s not that money, power, and fame are inherently bad. They’re simply neutral. The question is, “How do we leverage these for the greater good; for eternal value?”

The challenge is to take this frequently repeated message of generous living and focus our focus to avoid pouring our time, talent, and treasure into things that will one day “blow away”.

In episode 33, Tim MacDonald unpacks why a generous life is important, what it looks like, and how to live it.