"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." Matthew 6:19 NIV
On Monday of this week, Janice and I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The house itself is beautiful with its glassed courtyard filled with blooming seasonal flowers, but you are also surrounded by magnificent art everywhere you turn. You notice empty frames in a few rooms where paintings once hung before the robbery on March 18, 1990. The theft of 13 art objects we have yet to be recovered. It is thought collectors financed the robbery, depriving many so that a few might enjoy them privately.
Sadly, thefts happen, and markets, time, age, and pests destroy the items we hold dear. However, we possess an item that is much more valuable than any material object, our eternal souls. Yet, we so often treat it as secondary. We allow our earthly things -- retirement funds, cars, and homes -- to take precedence over our greatest treasurer.
We can change our thinking by making our relationship with God primary and shifting our focus from the worldly temporary to the heavenly eternal. By replacing our natural human tendencies with spiritual practices, reading and meditating on scripture, and entering into regular conversation with God. Engaging these practices is not work but joy as we come to recognize that God is the source of all good gifts.
God, we thank you for the treasure of our soul. We freely admit we are guilty of not valuing it as we should, placing higher importance on worldly things. Please help us as we seek to shift our focus from the temporal to the eternal. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Blessings!
Pastor Tim
What are the things you treasure?
