Corianton had another problem. His father, Alma, taught him, “Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; … you cannot carry them with you.” Paul made the same point: “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Timothy 6:7). As Brother Skinner tells his students, “You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul.”
Getting things seems to be a serious problem for humans. How foolish to spend so much time and effort to get things, only to leave them all behind when we die and return to our God. “Beware of covetousness,” Jesus warned, “for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth… . So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:15, 21). The psalmist tersely described why this is so foolish: “When he dieth he shall carry nothing away: [his riches] shall not descend after him” (Psalm 49:17). Think about the implications of the word descend in that verse!