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?!!!"
Put
your trust in the Lord and not in the riches of this world.
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