This World Is Not My Home

History is a marvelous mentor. There is no better teacher regarding money than the following. It comes from the lives of some of the wealthiest men of a past era, 1928. Consider the men who were:

President of the largest steel company.

President of the largest gas company.

President of the New York Stock Exchange.

Greatest wheat speculator.

President of the Bank of International Settlement.

Greatest Bear on Wall Street.

These men were considered some of the world’s most wealthy and powerful.

History’s pages have been turned long enough for us to learn from their lives. Consider their end.

The president of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died a pauper.

The president of the largest gas company, Edward Hopson, went insane.

The president of the NYSE, Richard Whitney, was released from prison and died at home.

The greatest wheat speculator, Arthur Cooge, died abroad penniless.

The president of the Bank of International Settlement shot himself.

The greatest bear on Wall Street, Cosabee Livermore, also committed suicide.

However in the same year, 1923, the PGA Champion and the winner of the most important golf tournament, the US Open, was Gene Sarazen. What became of him? He played golf until the age of 92, died in 1999 at the age of 95. He was financially secure at the time of his death.

Moral of the story: Play golf instead!

Better still is the Scripture which advocated, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6: 19 – 21).

There is an old hymn that sets that truth to music, “This World in Not My Home”:   

“This world is not my home I’m just passing through
my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
the angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore

O Lord you know I have no friend like you
if Heaven’s not my home then Lord what will I do?
the angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”