Not Mine to Keep

Our 16-year-old grandson bought a used car that the previous owner had invested a lot of money in while doing the mechanical upkeep. I’m sure at the time of the maintenance the previous owner gave no thought to keeping the car in good shape for the next owner. Similarly, as we prepare to list our current house with a realtor, it never occurred to me that all these years I’ve been making upgrades for someone else. Paul puts life’s possessions in perspective, “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Cor 7:29-32 NIV).