YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
When I was in Italy last year, my sister and I visited the Etruscan Necropolis in Tarquina, Italy. A necropolis is a cemetery. The tombs there are dated back to 700 BC. There are around 200 painted tombs in this particular cemetery, which are considered the most beautiful and best preserved painted tombs in the ancient world.
I'm pictured here on the steps going down to one of the tombs. Each tomb is underground and reached through a small house and a set of stairs. Visitors look through a window into the ancient tomb.
The picture below is an example and shows a two-room tomb. There would have been a number of sarcophagus holding the deceased in the tomb, along with all kinds of treasures belonging to the deceased.
You see, the Etruscans thought they could take their treasures with them into the next world after their death - much like the ancient Egyptians did. As I looked into their tombs and later at their treasures in the nearby museum that displayed items from the tombs, I was saddened at the thought of what their reality would have been when they opened their eyes after they took their last breath. Imagine their shock when they woke up in hell instead of the lovely tomb that had been prepared for them. It would have been a horrifying discovery -- and too late to change the outcome.
Here is one of the sarcophagus taken from a tomb. We saw many of these carved effigies of people buried in the tombs - each one representing a soul who went into eternity without God. I say that because the Etruscan people believed in false gods, like Tinia, Uni and Menrva. They had temples dedicated to these gods, along with other deities. The key aspect of their religious beliefs focused on the afterlife and elaborate burial rites.
Scripture clearly tells us, "...he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God," John 3:18.
While it is too late for these poor Etruscans who are already in the afterlife, if you're reading this post, you still have time to make sure of your eternal destination. Jesus said, "he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life," John 5:24.
"For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life," John 3:16.
When you join the family of God, I guarantee that you will never regret it, but you find a joy and peace that you never knew before. God bless you, my friend!
