Monday, October 13, 2008

Where's Your Treasure?

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:19-21

The stock market is climbing and falling like that monster of a roller coaster you were terrified of when you were a kid (if you were a "chicken" like me!). If our treasure is in the markets, investments, 401k's or even our bank accounts, we're on pretty shakey ground about now.

On my walk this morning I ran into a little guy about 6 years old. He had the biggest grin across his face as he unashamedly showed me his shoebox rock collection. One rock in particular brought a special gleam to his eye, "This one", he said, "This one has sparkles in it--I'm going to sell it!" "Wow", I said, "You're one lucky guy. That's pretty neat!" As I walked away I remembered my "rock collecting" days. I, too thought that the ones with sparkles were going to make me rich. As I got older I guess I moved on from rocks, to other treasures. None of them were bad but none of them ever gave me the satisfaction that I thought they would. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."

Jesus knew just the right way to say things. In so many words he was saying in Matthew 6 that if you feel like you've misplaced your heart, you might want to check what your treasuring--you're heart is probably somewhere nearby.

Time for a heart check up?

3 comments:

Beverly said...

Thank you!! Prayer request:
I may have an wonderful opportunity to have a newer mobile home than the one I have now and in alot better shape. This is a need in my life. May and I have been praying about this for sometime. I pray that if this is from God that it will all work out ~ if not then the door will shut.
Also I am believing for healing in my knees and one of them has "siezed" up on me, Leigh Anne has prayed over me and I thank Him that I HAVE been healed by His stripes!!! I feel as though this is a time for me to hold on to Him tightly and everything else loosely. Now if I could do this when everything is going good perhaps then I wouldn't experience so much trials, I don't know if this is biblically correct but I will put it out there anyway.
God Bless everyone ~keep in touch, we need each other ~ don't think -you can do it alone. 381-9307

Diane said...

Over the past months Brian and I have struggled with finances, our checkbook looking very slim at times, and Brian's work and payments from work slowing down very much. We have much debt from the building of our new home which we had not anticipated. I have days where I give it all to God and truly know in my heart that He is my provider and sustainer, but other days(when the checkbook looks very slim again) I worry and fret. I believe that God is allowing all this in my life to show me to keep my eyes focused on Him and not the checkbook. I want to get to the point where each day I truly hand over all the worries to him and feel that peace that comes with complete trust. I pray that the Lord continues to teach me to trust Him with everything. Beverly: I will be praying for you. Take care everyone.

Beverly said...

Hey just wanted to say, thanks for the prayers. My knee is doing alot better today!! Praise God!! I was able to do my job with little hinderance, miracle. I really feel like Jacob wrestling with spending time with The Father, reading, praying, acknowledgine Him in everything. Last night women's study was awesome, teaching us how to speak the truth in love. Boy that is a different place than I came from. I always seem to "put it in your face" and if you didn't like it...Good! But it is not about that...its about restoring and reconciling a person to the Father not just shoving it down a person's throat. I've always struggled between being brash or people pleasing. Now I have a picture of what is is to be just standing on the Word and speaking it in love. Gotta a ways to go but God is bringing me there.
Thank you Lord!! Thanks for sharing and thanks for listening (reading).