But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 2 Cor. 4:7
What do you
spend most of your free time doing? What is it your life is all about? If
someone else was to explain the type of person you are, what would they say
about what was important to you? Would it be your career, the money you make,
the fame you’re acquiring, the company you keep, your reputation with the
opposite sex, or your intellect? If you dropped dead in this moment, would your
life have been a success in attaining the goals you’ve set? Wouldn’t it depend
on what those goals are and what is important to you? Why are you here?
Most of us
ponder that question in our teens and twenties. It’s one of those big
philosophical questions that we use to define our place in our world. It’s
strange that we identify ourselves based on things that are so temporary. No
one ever leaves this life wishing for more time at work, or lamenting that they
weren’t the subject of conversation at some dinner table, or the envy of their
friends for what they wore or the car they drove. Most of life’s regrets are
about relationships with others, missed opportunities to do things for the
people we love, words left unsaid, and promises unkept. Jesus knew the pain we
suffer through when we are separated from those we love, and how easily we are
distracted by worldly things. The Master Teacher addressed the issue on the
mount as He looked out on those gathered around freed of the trinkets they’d
left at home. They had come to hear the Teacher, without all their stuff. He
taught saying:
“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.
Matthew
6:19-21
What we invest
our time and efforts in says a lot about the kind of people we are before our
God. Our desires demonstrate our motives. All the ways of a man are clean in his own
sight, but Lord weighs the motives. Proverbs 16:2 And what motivates us
reveals our hearts. Everything we do stems from the heart. A man can say that
he works to provide for his family, but if he spends all his money on
distractions so that his wife and children are preoccupied with other things,
his success as a provider has robbed him of his family. A good determination of
how important something is to us is how much time we put into it. A man who
spends all his time at the office is missing out. Our jobs or careers are not
our lives, the career is what we do to have a life. If you are blessed enough
to really love what you do, and it’s not about the money, then chances are you
are also the type of person who can leave the job easily to spend time with the
people you love.
We could go
into depth on how empty setting our sights on the things of the world leave us,
but God says it better. They trust in their wealth and boast about how rich they are yet
not one of them, though rich as kings, can ransom his own brother from the
penalty of sin! For God’s forgiveness does not come that way. For a soul is far
too precious to be ransomed by mere earthly wealth. There is not enough of it
in all the earth to buy eternal life for just one soul, to keep it out of hell.
Rich man! Proud man! Wise man! You must die like all the rest! You have no
greater lease on life than foolish, stupid men. You must leave your wealth to
others.” Ps.49:6-10 Living Translation If you were to try to remember just one great
prize you won in your life, chances are you don’t still have it. If you do it’s
probably in decay or depreciating. What seems like one man’s treasure is passed
over at the estate sell as being trash.
Our world has left us with a
messed-up sense of what our purpose on this planet is all about. We lost our
focus. The Westminster Catechism’s very first question and answer really gives the
reason we are all occupying space on this planet. It reads, “What is the
chief end (purpose) of man? Man’s chief end (purpose) is to glorify God, and
to enjoy him forever.”
Our treasure is not what material things we gain
here on earth, but in the Kingdom of God. His Word is our greatest treasure
while we’re here because it is the revelation of God. “I rejoice at Your word as one
who finds great treasure.” Ps.119:162 It reveals the nature of God to us, His
children. The Bible exists for our instruction and edification so that we can
grow in our relationship with Him. What is so intrinsic about the Bible is that
it is a love story of a God not being pursued by His worshippers, but of God
pursuing his beloved. We are His treasure, and Jesus proved that on the cross
at Calvary. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, I have drawn you
with lovingkindness. Jer. 31:3.
Since we are that for Him, isn’t it right that
He be that for us? Once we have chosen Jesus everything else assumes it’s true
value. “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if
necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of
your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though
tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation
of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you
do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy
inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the
salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9
So what
good are these temporary things that will pass away? What purpose is there in
spending time, effort, and resources on stuff. Stuff is fluff. But people, now
there is something worth investing in. At least that’s the way Jesus saw it. “O
righteous Father, The world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples
know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so.
Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.” John17: 25-26 We
should be Kingdom seekers, not just first but always. Let us pray we can
maintain not just a godly perspective, but a Seeking first the Kingdom of God
perspective. Only then can we truly keep our eyes fixed on Him.
“Listen, my beloved brethren, did not God choose
the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He
promised to those who love Him?” James 2:5
