Where's Your Treasure?

Where's Your Treasure?

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19

This verse always puts the desire for earthly possessions in proper perspective, for me. I’ll be honest, I have my share of “collections”, but the older I get, the easier it is for me to part with them.  Of course, part of that is because, my kids are constantly nagging me to purge so they won’t have to deal with it after I check out of Motel Earth!  Lately, with the prospect of moving, looming on the horizon, I’ve been filling boxes and dumpsters with my unnecessary treasures.

Don’t misunderstand me, having stuff is not the problem, but it can, eventually, lead us away from our center, God. Let’s say you have a teapot collection, and you love to add to it.  At some point, it can become an obsession rather than a hobby. If you find yourself neglecting time in the Word, or prayer, to hunt for new teapots, it should send up a red warning flag . Our enemy, the devil, would like nothing more than to have you value your teapots over God.  A weak, prayer less, biblically/spiritually illiterate church is his ultimate goal.

 Take a look around your own house, and honestly ask yourself, “Where is my treasure?”.  Have you located “it”?  This same verse says that where “it” is, there also is your heart.  Wow, is my face red!  God doesn’t tell us to stop collecting, or enjoying hobbies, but he does want us to put them in proper perspective.  Our real treasure is in our personal relationship with Him. He must come first, and we must be willing to dump all the rest, if he asks us to. No, don’t start pitching now, but do open your eyes and hearts to His gentle reminders.

Paul wrote this to us, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7.  So, keep your teapots, books, dishes, pastimes etc., but don’t count them as true treasure, that shelf is reserved for God.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:19.