“That which you cannot give away, you don’t possess; it possesses you.”

This quote immediately reminded me of a Bible story I read a couple of years ago.  It was about this man named Lazarus. Not the man who died and came back to life by command, but a beggar.  He was kind of a pitiful man. He was revolting actually. He had sores, no food,  and no shelter. He had his spot in front of the gates of a rich man and the clothes on his back. He had nothing or so it seemed to the rich man.

The rich man had everything. Out of the goodness of his heart he shared scraps of his meals with Lazarus. He couldn’t part with anything else.

One day, Lazarus died. He went to paradise due to his great faith despite his crappy situation.

On the other hand, when the rich man died he went to hell. He was sweaty, boiling ( probably an understatement), and incredibly uncomfortable. He called out for the figures he saw in the distance(Abraham and Lazarus), begging them for water and for permission to warn his family about hell. He never received the drink he wanted and his family never learned of the tortures of hell from Lazarus himself.

The rich man gained the whole world in terms of luxury  and lost everything in death. The rich man was so invested in himself and his possessions that he ignored the opportunity to be caring. He was ensnared by the desire to obtain things, even in death.