The Treasure
I was listening to the Faith & Finance program on Moody Radio yesterday while I was in the car. The host, Rob West, was interviewing executive director Chad Clark. As Chad shared about the vision of Faith & Finance, he spoke of helping people see God as their ultimate treasure.
That statement struck a chord with me. I knew the source of it. It's Matthew 6, verses 19-23.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
(The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Mt 6:19–24. (2016). Crossway Bibles.)
Our treasures are to be in heaven, because our hearts will be where our treasure is. We can't function with a divided heart. We will either "hate" God and love money, or we'll love God and "hate" money. We'll either be devoted to money and despise God, or we'll be devoted to God and despise money.
We need to see Jesus as our ultimate treasure.
When He is our ultimate treasure, our "eye is healthy," so our "whole body [life] will be full of light." We will see things as they were meant to be seen -- as God sees them. We "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." We don't chase after the things that used to dominate our imagination.
At the 2023 Grio awards, when he was awarded, comedian Steve Harvey said 85% of the accomplishments for which he was being awarded, "happened after I married that girl right there," indicating his wife. Her love, her advice and her encouragement had helped him see many things differently, and it changed his life.
How would our lives be changed if Jesus were our ultimate treasure, if we allowed Him to help us see things differently?
He would cause us to see people differently. The hatred and snap judgments that are common on social media and in many conversations would end because our Lord would cause us to see others with patience and understanding. He would give us a desire to see others experience the life that He came to give us -- one lived in connection with Him, that puts loving God and loving others before loving ourselves. We would see people as those that He created in His image, people for whom He died so that they could be reconciled to God and know His love and kindness.
He would cause us to see money and opportunities differently. We would be less willing to compromise our integrity or sacrifice others for the sake of a little more money or power. We would recognize an increase in our power as an opportunity to give a hand up to others and to open doors for them, to protect them from injustices and create opportunities. Increases in income would provide us with opportunities to help others in need and support gospel efforts here and elsewhere.
We would see sin, not as a forbidden pleasure, but as a threat to our connection with our Lord, a hindrance to the most fulfilling and significant relationship in our lives. To borrow C. S. Lewis's metaphor, we would be exchanging infinite glory for making mud pies in a slum!
Christmas is the season when we are reminded of the wonder that the birth of Jesus represents. In it, God's love blazes brightly toward a world stumbling in the darkness, and our need for someone to lead us out of the gloom of confusion and violence and selfishness into the warmth of love and light is made more apparent.
Jesus is our ultimate treasure, but He is a treasure that becomes more valuable to us as we share Him with others.
That statement struck a chord with me. I knew the source of it. It's Matthew 6, verses 19-23.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
(The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Mt 6:19–24. (2016). Crossway Bibles.)
Our treasures are to be in heaven, because our hearts will be where our treasure is. We can't function with a divided heart. We will either "hate" God and love money, or we'll love God and "hate" money. We'll either be devoted to money and despise God, or we'll be devoted to God and despise money.
We need to see Jesus as our ultimate treasure.
When He is our ultimate treasure, our "eye is healthy," so our "whole body [life] will be full of light." We will see things as they were meant to be seen -- as God sees them. We "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." We don't chase after the things that used to dominate our imagination.
At the 2023 Grio awards, when he was awarded, comedian Steve Harvey said 85% of the accomplishments for which he was being awarded, "happened after I married that girl right there," indicating his wife. Her love, her advice and her encouragement had helped him see many things differently, and it changed his life.
How would our lives be changed if Jesus were our ultimate treasure, if we allowed Him to help us see things differently?
He would cause us to see people differently. The hatred and snap judgments that are common on social media and in many conversations would end because our Lord would cause us to see others with patience and understanding. He would give us a desire to see others experience the life that He came to give us -- one lived in connection with Him, that puts loving God and loving others before loving ourselves. We would see people as those that He created in His image, people for whom He died so that they could be reconciled to God and know His love and kindness.
He would cause us to see money and opportunities differently. We would be less willing to compromise our integrity or sacrifice others for the sake of a little more money or power. We would recognize an increase in our power as an opportunity to give a hand up to others and to open doors for them, to protect them from injustices and create opportunities. Increases in income would provide us with opportunities to help others in need and support gospel efforts here and elsewhere.
We would see sin, not as a forbidden pleasure, but as a threat to our connection with our Lord, a hindrance to the most fulfilling and significant relationship in our lives. To borrow C. S. Lewis's metaphor, we would be exchanging infinite glory for making mud pies in a slum!
Christmas is the season when we are reminded of the wonder that the birth of Jesus represents. In it, God's love blazes brightly toward a world stumbling in the darkness, and our need for someone to lead us out of the gloom of confusion and violence and selfishness into the warmth of love and light is made more apparent.
Jesus is our ultimate treasure, but He is a treasure that becomes more valuable to us as we share Him with others.
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