Treasures In Heaven

Luke 12:15, Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (NIV)

I find myself, in my human nature, storing up treasures on earth. Don't we all? Just looking around our home I find several things that I would have difficulty parting with, if I had to sell them. However, these verses listed above are not just referring to things.

I want to dig further and get to the core of these verses. God in His commandments to the Israelites, His chosen people, said we are to have no other gods before Him. When we put things and even people before God, we are putting them as our gods. I touched on this a little bit in a prior blog when I talked about depending upon my husband sometimes, instead of God.

No matter if it is things, people, money, church activities or whatever it is, if we treasure something more than we do God and our relationship with God, then that is where our heart is. If our heart isn't with God first, then we begin to put God aside. The more we put God aside, the more our priorities become askew.

In Philippians chapter 1: 3-6, it says: "3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. "

The way I relate to these verses is by remembering that true JOY comes from my priorities being in the order that is pleasing to God. This is easy to remember if I use JOY as an acronym.

J being for Jesus first,

O being for Others next and

Y being for You last.

If I remember to put God first, others second and myself last, it becomes apparent that true joy in the Lord can be obtained.

Verses for today:

Matthew 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
Matthew 6:20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matthew 6:21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Thought for today:

What is it that I treasure most?

Song for today:

"Where My Treasure Is"

Author
Charles F. Brown
Copyright
1977 Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)
Catalog
Word Music, LLC