Where is your treasure?

What is your attitude to the things of this world? Are you precious about the material possessions you have, or the money you have saved? How would you feel if your house was robbed or burnt down, or your money was lost or taken? Consider what your reaction would be. Sadness and annoyance would be fair, but, would you be distraught, furious, heartbroken? If so, then you are treasuring the things of the world too much. These material and financial things will one day no longer exist, so be mindful of how much focus, love and attention you give them now. Learn to live for eternity in heaven, not for temporary satisfaction on Earth. This is what Jesus teaches about such things;

Matthew 6:19 - 24

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 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! 

24 “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. 

Where is your treasure? How much do you have an Earth and how much are you storing in Heaven? It matters where you put your resources. You would be a fool to choose a low interest bank account when you know there is a higher rate one available. Which have you chosen? Are you investing in the guaranteed high interest bank of heaven which will last you for eternity, or are you investing in lower value here in the world? 

Jesus makes it clear, - you can serve either God or money, not both, there is no middle ground. Money and possessions are resources, they should never become more than something that is utilised, and the most importnat thing that you can use them for is for the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a choice that you have made already about how you use the treasures at your disposal, but is it the right one? Jesus wants you to clearly see what you are doing (v22-23). He removes the darkness, so what are your sights set on? What are your aspirations and the things that you focus on in life? For you can either serve God, or serve money. One has eternal importance, and the other is temporary. 

Who really is your Master? You could be storing up plenty of resources and investing in a financially secure future on earth, like many people do who do not know God. Why are you doing that? What is your security really in? Are you thinking if you have enough then you and your family will be ok? If that is where you have hope and trust then you have missed how big God is, and you are blind to the sin and destruction in the world that could so easily snatch it away. God is far more capable of truly taking care of your family in the here and now, the future, and for all of eternity. Are you investing in the best place for them? It will mean a less comfortable earthly life if you are investing in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the reward will be infinitely greater. God is greater than the highest interest rate, more powerful than any government or authority, richer than any business person and more stable than any stocks, shares or investment strategies. God is stable and sure. He guarantees you a great reward when you serve Him and invest in His Kingdom. So, where are you putting your trust? What has your focus, love and attention? Do you want to invest in eternal certainty, or temporal instability? Choose where your treasure will be. 

Be ready to be inspired to be generous.

I have noticed over the past few weeks how the theme of generosity has been cropping up for us as a family. We have been taking part in a 40 Acts of generosity challenge so maybe that’s part of it, but we have also been hearing stories of extraordinary, generous living.
So, the theme of generosity has been mulling about in my mind. I have noticed that everyday opportunities to be generous are all around us, are we making the most of them? (Even if it can seem a bit weird!)
Whether it’s being generous with your speech, your time or your money, what you invest has ongoing effects.

I was even considering the other day - what would the journey of a £1 coin look like from it’s manufacture? How many pairs of hands has it passed through? How many banks? tills? How many pavements has it rested on? How many purses?
 A single £1 coin has a story to tell. That coin has been an important sum to some, an investment for others, a gift for a few and a commodity to many. That £1 has meant much to many. Yet, the value of the coin isn’t so much it’s monetary value, but the worth of it is measured by it’s usage; you can save it, spend it, lose it, invest it, donate it. A single coin has a multiple of options open to it. So, my question to you is - what are you doing with the coins in your hands? Maybe you don’t have any coins, but you do have some form of treasure whatever it may be; money, skills, time, resources. These things are your treasure that you can choose to put to use how you want to. There are a multitude of choices. What are you going to do with what you have in your hands? What is the next stage of the journey of your treasure? You have responsibility for what you have got whilst you have got it, so how are you going tout these things to work?

I have a simple story to tell you along these lines this week, as our treasure was rhubarb!

The other day we discovered that there’s rhubarb growing in our newly-acquired-overgrown allotment, it was a hidden treasure as it’s take us 5 moths to find it! So my daughter and I  picked some - 9 sticks in total, some for us and  some for the neighbours.

As we were walking home with our 9 stalks of rhubarb, we saw a dog-walker who commented on our bundle, we asked if he wanted any- and he walked away with 3 stalks.
When we got home, I chopped off the leaves, cut up 3 sticks and stewed it (rhubarb crumble here we come!). It wasn’t until later when my daughter came into the kitchen that she asked about how much rhubarb we had. So, I reminded her; we picked 9, gave 3 to the dog-walker, we stewed 3…. She then told me that wasn’t right. So, I explained again. Again she told me that wasn’t right - it didn’t add up. So I asked her why. She told me that 9-3-3 is (not surprisingly) 3. Yet we had 5 stalks left!
This made me smile, so I said that clearly God has been at it again! He multiplied the fish and loaves to feed the 5,000 and now he’s multiplied the rhubarb to feed the neighbours!

I have no idea why God would do this, but it was a beautiful little miracle that shows the reality of God to us and our kids. It shows the lavish generosity of God. Why would He do that? I don’t know - maybe it was just because He wanted to!
How can we not be generous when we have a God that does things like this?! He makes 9-3-3 equal to 5!

It also struck me how when we put our mind to give away what we have got, God has a habit of multiplying your capability to continue to give. As a family we have cut back many times, wages have reduced, time has been precious, things have gone wrong, but God has always, always taken care of us. We have had times when it doesn’t make sense for us to have money in the account, yet we have.

It seems God may be challenging us again to step up into a new level of generosity. However He does it, whatever He asks us to do, i pray that we will have the confidence to do it because He can increase whatever we give. However scary His ask, I want to say yes because I know He will never let us down. He will press down and increase the little treasure we have. Just like rhubarb and the £1 coin - who knows the journey our treasure is going on? How many lives will be effected? How many hands will what we once had pass into?

Be ready to be inspired to be generous.