There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he
had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to
heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth
with him.
An angel hears his plea and appears to him. "Sorry, but you can't take your
wealth with you."
The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.
The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears
and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with
him.
Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars
and places it beside his bed.
Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St.
Peter. St. Peter seeing the suitcase says, "Hold on, you can't bring that in
here!"
But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks him to
verify his story with the Lord.
Sure enough, St. Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are
allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting
it through."
St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found
too precious to leave behind and exclaims,
"You brought pavement!!!???"
In view of eternity, what we consider valuable will be worthless!!! What is eternal and priceless will be those we've won for Jesus! Amen!!