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James 1:11
11 For [gar] the sun [helios] is no sooner risen [anatello] with [sun] a burning heat [kauson], but [kai] it withereth [xeraino] the grass [chortos], and [kai] the flower [anthos] thereof [autos] falleth [ekpipto], and [kai] the grace [euprepeia] of the fashion [prosopon] of it [autos] perisheth [apollumi]: so [houto] also [kai] shall [maraino] the rich man [plousios] fade away [maraino] in [en] his [autos] ways [poreia]. KJV-Interlinear
11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass; and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. NASB
This metaphor makes it very clear, or at least it should make it clear, that everything in this world is transitory, fleeting, temporary, brief as it were. Nothing in this life, nothing that is, from this physical world, is permanent.
And as such, it has no intrinsic value.
The best possessions to have, are those which retain their value no matter what, and those whose value goes on forever. Nothing in life fits that description, except Bible doctrine and the blessings that accompany it.
The sun rises and falls. The sun gives life, or at least presents an environment that supports life. But, at the same time, that sun causes life to cease.
The sun combined with time are the best of friends that one could have, and they are the worst of enemies.
As the earth rotates, time becomes fleeting. The day comes on us and the day leaves us. We cannot go back to the days of earlier times. Once past, those days are gone forever.
Likewise, the possessions of this life come to us and then they leave us. Life is short in the grand scheme of things. We may think that life seems to go on slowly and forever, but once you become thirty, or forty, or fifty, or sixty, or seventy, or eighty and so forth, then the speed of life becomes a blur.
It was just yesterday when we were young. But now, where did all of that time go? How did it get past us? We still have many things we want to do in life, many things that we haven't finished.
We have hustled, and built up, and accumulated all that we have. We have become successful to some degree, and yet what is it all for? Even young folks believe that they have all the time in the world to accomplish their goals. They don't.
There are two categories of possessions available to each one of us in life. There are possessions which will be ours forever, and possessions that will only be temporary.
God gave us all, three assets with which to invest during our life - time, volition and doctrine. Everyone has possession of these three things. Most use their time to pursue temporary things. Some are very successful at it and most are not.
Then there are those who use their time to pursue Bible doctrine - learning it, utilizing it, nurturing it so to speak, and they in turn build up possessions which are permanent within their soul. These possessions last forever and not only that, but these possessions become the basis for wealth blessings in heaven in the next life. It is those blessings that will be with you forever. That alone makes them phenomenally valuable. More valuable than all of the physical wealth on this planet combined.
Pursue worldly things, and ignore God and your spiritual life, and you will end up life with nothing, regardless of what you are able to accumulate in life.
Pursue Bible doctrine and your spiritual life, and no matter what you otherwise are able to gain in this life, if anything, you will be guaranteed a phenomenally successful life in eternity. Because eternity depends on your spiritual possessions not your physical possessions.
