There was something different
about Morris Siegel, a street person
in Los Angeles, California. 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; he
was found in an alley, dead of natural causes, heart trouble
perhaps.
Something about him was different, though. Maybe it was
his three bank accounts containing a total of $207,421.
In 1979, Morris’ father died and left him the money. 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 awarded.
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 of 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 are
content to live isolated, unproductive lives on this earth, when
they have the riches of heaven at their disposal (2 Corinthians
8:9). Trading eternal life for a perishing earth sounds as crazy
as Morris (Matthew 16:26).