The smell of the Jungle Room is something people would kill to have known 40 years ago. “I went to GRACELAND!” they’d say while readjusting their layers of clunky jewelry. There was a time when the king sold out stadiums to screaming fans. People would (literally) faint at the sight of him, and I was standing in his kitchen.

We toured the grounds the morning after we saw Garth Brooks play to a packed house at the FedEx Forum. His concert, while amazing, struck me differently as I stood over Elvis’ grave that next day. There buried next to his pool was a man who knew the fame and the sound of adoring fans; nothing separating us but four decades. Yet there were fingerprints of regret on every surface of his house.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” Matthew 16:26

Even though he had everything money and fame could offer, Elvis was an overall tortured individual. His life (coupled with Garth’s concert the night before) stood as a clear reminder that the bright and shiny things of this world don’t last very long. They will always let us down.

“All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:24-25

If whatever concerns you today is not something that will concern you 1,000 years from now, it’s probably not that important. So, as you read this, commit to walk in step with a King and Kingdom that will last forever (Matthew 6:33). 

And if a moment comes where this world seems brighter or shinier than the Kingdom of Heaven, just go to the musty Jungle Room and take a deep breath.