Chessmen in the Bag

“As chessmen are all thrown into the bag together, so in the grave there is no distinction; skulls wear no wreaths, and corpses carry no marks of honor.” -Thomas Manton

You may have never played chess before but I’m sure we have all played or watched a card game. These games have many different pieces and each piece has its own purpose. In chess we have Kings and Queens, all the way down to pawns. In cards you have Kings and Queens, all the way down to the joker. Each one serves its own purpose.

When the game is over all the chess pieces get put into the same box or bag. The playing cards get mixed together and put away in the same manner. The Kings and Queens are on the same level as the pawns and jokers.

At the end of our time we all will go to the same grave. The world leaders, social media influences, sports stars, musicians and movie stars, all the way down to the poor man. The man who looks down on his neighbor and the man who looks up for help from his neighbor, the one who rules and the one who was ruled will have their body reside in the same bed.

The woman’s beauty will fade away. The strength of man will be eaten up. The fortunes we worked for will be wasted by another. All the knowledge we carried will be worthless and the accolades we gained will do nothing but gather dust.

This sounds depressing indeed, but for those found in Christ at their death, all the beauty, strength, knowledge, fortune and accolades will be nothing and less than nothing compared to the inheritance stored up for us in Christ. 1 Peter 1:3-4 reads “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time”.

The game always ends, death will inevitably pay its visit to each of us. All the pieces will be put away and all mankind will enter the grave. So now is the day to believe on Christ. Eternity awaits each of us, and eternity will be different for those found outside of Jesus.