Treasure
At the first mention of the word treasure, my mind is filled with images of pirate ships, deserted islands, and an X that marks the spot. I think of a hidden chest filled with gold medallions, rubies, and diamonds. Treasure is something you search for, fight for, and go great distances to find. Treasure can bind people together or create division between those who once were close friends. Treasure can become the focus of your life. It can consume you. Treasure can be hidden and hoarded, or shared and enjoyed.
Whether we realize it or not, we all have treasure. We all have things we are searching for, fighting for, and storing up. Though the items in the chest are different, we all have treasure that holds great value to us.
Often we think our treasure will follow our heart. But Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, suggested the opposite—that our heart will follow our treasure. In his Sermon on the Mount, he put it this way: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
It is no wonder, then, that many of us feel a sense of disappointment about our lives and finances. We want to give our lives to our church, our family, our God. Instead, our heart follows our debt, our job, and our bills, and we haven’t even realized it. As a result, we’re left feeling conflicted and empty.
Jesus cared about our heart, so he taught about our treasure.
We find in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount a beautiful way to talk about our finances and our need to give. We begin by asking ourselves two questions:
Where do I want to invest my treasure?
Where am I really investing my treasure?
We learn that our answers to these two questions are often quite different. Not surprisingly, we also find that our hearts indeed are following our treasure, no matter how much we wish they were following our intentions! As we consider how to change where we are investing our treasure (time, money, energy), we find that our hearts are filled with excitement and a growing sense of contentment.
Jesus taught about our treasure because he cared about our hearts.
His words from the Sermon on the Mount still hold life-changing power today. His words show that God has more for us than what can be earned on a paycheck. God has treasure.
Adapted from: Treasure by Jacob Armstrong, Copyright © 2014 by Abingdon Press. Used with permission.