Nothing But A Preserve Stand

by Micky Galloway

As most of you probably know I have been away from home because of the sickness of my Mother and her passing from this life. In 1987 I lost my Dad. Both of my parents are now gone. When my Dad passed away and later when we were “breaking up house keeping” for my Mother, I was asked what I wanted that had belonged to my Dad. As long as I can remember there was a preserve stand (something you young people know nothing about) that sat on our kitchen table. It had belonged to my Grandmother on my Dad’s side. Considering that my Dad was born in 1901, it was really old. It held great memories of my childhood. My Mother said I could have that preserve stand. I treasured it and securely packed it in blankets as we made our journey across the country. One of the first things I checked when I got home was the preserve stand to make sure it wasn’t broken. It survived the trip just fine and now sets on a shelf in our dining area. Every time I see it I am reminded of family gatherings around the kitchen table where the preserve stand decorated our table. Some day the preserve stand will belong to someone else who does not share the memories and to whom it will have no value. Perhaps someday it will be broken and it will not be a sorrow to anyone that it is gone … and that is life.

Solomon wrote of the possessions of this life, “I gathered me also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem” (Ecclesiastes 2:8-9). He also said, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance, with increase: this also is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). Physical possessions do not provide any lasting satisfaction.

Jesus taught a valuable lesson in Matthew 6:19-21, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.” We will leave nothing of value behind in death. Everything of true value we will take with us. We will take with us the relationship we sustain to Him and the memory of our life that we have committed unto Him. We will take with us all that he has made us by His grace and power, our transformed character, the different set of values, etc. He has prepared us for this journey and when we get there we will belong and be at home in the presence of God and our Redeemer and the holy angels at last.

My Mother had expressed the desire to have family around her when she passed from this life. She did not want to die alone. Fortunately, my brother and I were at her side when she took her last breath. Toward the end a nurse told me told me, “this is a journey she must take alone.” That is not entirely true. The psalmist said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me …” (Psalms 23:4). The Lord has promised during difficult times and even in death that if we are faithful to Him, He will be constantly at our side. “Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:58, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord.” Nothing we invest in Him will ever be lost. You better have something that death cannot take away. So many things we think are important now will mean nothing in death. We need this insight now. We must remember that if we make physical things what life is about, the day will come that these will all be taken away from us. Paul wrote, “But godliness with contentment is great gain: for we brought nothing into the world, for neither can we carry anything out; but having food and covering we shall be therewith content” (I Timothy 6:6-8). Every human being will experience the decay of the body, it is not designed to last. It is indeed an appointment that all will keep for there is a time to die (Hebrews 9:27; cf. Ecclesiastes 3:1ff ).

Solomon reminds us that the only thing that lasts of all these things under the sun (and he covers it all) is our relationship with God. As Christians we can look at death differently. Not because there is something wonderful in it, but because it is an enemy which has been disarmed (Hebrews 2:14-15). The pain and grief that are a part of death remain. The difference is that they are no longer ultimate and therefore they hold no terror for the one who has put his confidence in the great God who sent his Son into the world to redeem us.

We do still grieve when death occurs. At the death of Stephen, devout men buried him and made great lamentation over him (Acts 7:2). Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus (John 11:35). Yet, our grief is not as those who are hopeless. We are comforted by the words of Paul, “But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

When death comes to confront us and standing beside us is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings; and holding our hand is the friend and brother and Redeemer who has “all power” who has defeated sin and death, He who holds the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18), just maybe we will be able to say with Paul … “O death, where is your victory now??? and where is your sting???” (cf. I Corinthians 15:55).

Death will be a new experience, but if Christ goes with me, everything will be fine. Death is only a terror to those who are outside of Christ and to the uncommitted, the unfaithful, who look upon death as an end and as a dreaded time when they meet a Savior they do not know and who is NOT their friend.

You see, the preserve stand that holds precious memories to me will one day be broken and gone, for after all it is nothing but a preserve stand. Our real treasure is in heaven and that is the only possession that will last.