An Enduring Substance
"Ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance." -- Heb. 10:34
The story is told of two wealthy men who became bankrupt. For years they had been business leaders side by side in the same city. In a financial crisis they went down. Both of them lost all their money and property. One of these men, however, had something he did not lose. It was that something our text calls "a better and an enduring substance." A friend who came close to him in his misfortune had this to say of him: "In his poverty he kept his honour, his self-respect, his good name, his faith in God, his hold on the eternal principles of righteousness, and was happier man then than he had been in the days of his wealth. Having a cultured mind and a soul disciplined into an exquisite sensibility to spiritual and unseen realities, he drew from fountains which made him independent of material wealth."
But what about the other man? His experience was entirely different. He had nothing but money. He had scorned that "better and enduring substance" which his fellow-business friend possessed. To him money was everything. Apart from his money he had no pleasure and no satisfaction. What his loss meant to him scarcely needs to be told. When his money was gone all was gone. He ceased to respect other men, lost all respect for himself, and became wretched and miserable. In his desperation he committed forgery, and from henceforth he was despised and shunned as a criminal in the community where he had once been regarded as an honourable citizen.
This story carries its own lesson. Men make a great mistake when they stake their life and happiness upon the fluctuating markets of this world. The wise man is the man who has learned the secret of trade in heaven’s market where the gain is "a better and an enduring substance."
