Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21
This passage is from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus has gone to speak to his disciples. He was teaching them about priorities; choosing the love of God and spiritual values rather than material ones.
As I read this passage, I thought about the things that I treasure and then I thought about the things that I treasure most. The things that I treasure the most are not “things” at all. We all know that material possessions are not what is most important to us, yet most of us struggle with keeping our priorities straight. Why do material possessions compete for our affections, especially when we know what damage comes when we misplace our priorities?
What is in our heart will determine how we respond to God’s calling to love one another and help those in need. When we spend money and/or our valuable time for charitable causes and people, we expand our hearts and make them rich. The heart must be set on eternal treasures, not on things of this Earth. This does not make it wrong for us to want the necessities of life and material possessions, but our heart should not be set on them. Possessions must be possessed; they must not possess us. If God is the treasure of our heart, our passions will be placed on things above. If our hearts are not set upon eternal treasures, we must reinvest in our values. What is your heart set upon?
Cindy Carrier
