1 Timothy 6:19

‘Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed.’

And by doing so they will be laying a firm foundation which will be kept in store for them in readiness for the time to come. Just as a large building firm will lay up a land bank for the future, which they keep ‘in store’, so should the rich lay up a firm foundation for the future, so that it will be in store when it is needed. They are to make friends for themselves in the eternal habitations (Luke 16:9). And by doing this they will lay hold on life which is life indeed (compare 1 Timothy 6:12). This is the opposite of being ‘dead while they live’ (1 Timothy 5:6). Instead of living their rich lives of excess, they will begin to live the true life which can be enjoyed ‘to excess’ in this life and the next (John 10:10). Eternal life is God’s free gift, given to all who believe on Him (Romans 6:23). But the full enjoyment of it is dependent on our response to His promptings. We must lay hold of it for ourselves.