This is an eye-opening piece. What we focus on IS our treasure. Even if we're complaining about something, our eyes remain focused on the problem. The solution can only come when we focus on the only solution there is, Jesus Christ. What we pray believing will come about, so we need to shift our focus from the problem to Jesus. Can we trust Him that much? Where Is Our Treasure?Matthew 6:19 Do not lay up treasures on earth for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.These verses are truly exciting to me. They are quite literally eye-opening. What are the treasures we would lay up in this world? Of course, there's money, gold, precious gems, and stocks and bonds which are obvious worldly treasures. All of these items can be stolen from us, or, due to corruption, their value can be depleted. With these worldly treasures, we can notice another attribute: whenever they are given away, the treasures are depleted until, eventually, there could be none left. The treasures in Heaven are the fruit of the Spirit which include love, joy, and peace. They are obtained through Jesus Christ. They are not subject to moth and rust corruption although, at times, it may seem that a catastrophic event may take our peace away from us. If this occurs, we know that all things work together for good to those who love Christ and God's purpose may be to help us become more firm in our faith as we persistently believe that God's peace will once again flow into our lives. And, perhaps we've noticed, that with these Heavenly treasures, the more we give them away, the more we have. Man's treasures decrease when they are given away. God's treasures increase when they are given away. This gives us encouragement to give the treasures of God away freely in this fruit-of-the-Spirit deprived world. Where our treasures are, there our hearts are as well. Where are our hearts now? What do we believe in? We believe in what we have determined our treasures are. We have made a conscious decision to either treasure all the attractions of this world OR all the attractions of Heaven. We may try but we can't have both. God promised that if we will treasure all the Heavenly treasures, our needs on this earth will be met. If we treasure only the worldly things, most certainly (if not sooner, definitely when our stay on this planet is done) we will lose it all. It is not pragmatic to focus only on the treasures of this world. We realize that all we want is the love of Jesus Christ. His way is made clear, then, through our humbled and weakened souls, to work mighty miracles through us. We could never do those miracles ourselves. It makes sense, then, when Paul says, "When I am weak, I am strong."
Our treasure is what we desire. If we desire to win in this world and make kingdoms in it, our hearts will reflect this interest and we will be striving toward a temporary title of king over our possessions in this worldly play pen. Our beliefs will hold our focus steadily at accumulating more and more of these worldly riches because a little is never enough. Eventually we come to the place where we "have it all" and yet feel so empty we could cry. At this time, our despair could be so great, we would prefer to be dead. But Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly so we don't need to die. We need only to accept Him and humble ourselves before Him. We need to change our focus. We need to look, not to the accumulation of worldly wealth, but to the accumulation of God's fruit of the Spirit which is obtained through Jesus Christ.
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