There was something different about Morris Siegel!
On the surface he seemed like your average Los Angeles street person – roaming about in dark alleys, sleeping outdoors, carrying everything he owned in an old shopping cart. And he died the way one expects a street person to die – found in an alley, dead of natural causes, heart trouble perhaps. But there was something about him that was different.
Maybe it was his three bank accounts containing a total of $207,421.00.
Ten years ago, Morris’s father died and left the money to him. When Morris did not claim it, the division of Unclaimed Property tracked him down, and his family forced him to accept it. He did not show up at the ceremony when the cash was handed over. He took enough of the money to buy an old car, where he slept in bad weather. Relatives rented him an apartment; he never went there. He died December 14, 1989 with three dollars in his pocket and an untouched fortune in the bank.
Sound crazy? Well, figure this one out.
A couple thousand years ago, our Heavenly Father ratified His will, and left all of His children eternal wealth – life, peace, victory. To this day, many have not claimed the windfall and some have refused to spend any of it. Lost people shuffle down blind alleys of an empty existence, facing hell for eternity, and ignore the salvation promised in Christ. Many Christians, who have heaven for their final destination, content themselves with a grubby, isolated, unproductive life on this earth.
Old Morris lived a wasted life and died a futile death, but I can’t be too quick to point the finger at him. He was only dealing with the temporary, and many of us play the same losing game with the eternal.
Borrowed from Doug Parsons