What Treasures Are You Storing?


 ““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬


October 22nd will mark one year since my mom’s passing. She was 95 and had a good life, and accumulated a lot of stuff! It took my sister and I about two and a half days to clean out her apartment.  Most went to Salvation Army and Goodwill, some to the lady who cleaned her apartment and a lot to the dumpster. Which gave me pause when everything was done.


What is it all for? A life of accumulating stuff and it all ends up in a thrift shop somewhere or a dumpster? Why do we hold onto so much stuff? 


In John 10:10 Jesus said that He came to give us life and that we might have this life abundantly.

So what does abundant life look like this side of heaven?

What is left when the money is gone? The possessions are gone? When everything fades away, rusts, becomes useless? When praises and accolades stop? What has it all been for?


In Luke 12:15 Jesus said, “…Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.””


Jesus then shared The Parable of the Rich fool. What struck me about this one,  was how the farmer never gives any gratitude to God for all he's been given. It's all about what he's done. What he's accumulated. That his possessions would help him rest easy. He put his faith in his "stuff" instead of God. But as this verse points out, our life is so much more than the things we possess. I think God blesses us, not so we hoard/keep things for ourselves, but that we might bless others. 


Then in Luke 12:21 Jesus reminds us that we should be rich towards God. Which makes me ask myself the question, what is truly important in life? What is it all for?


Solomon says, in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

‭‭And Paul reminds us in 1Corinthians 13:13 that only three things remain, Faith, Hope, and Love, but the greatest of these is Love.


Love. Love is all that is left. So I must ask myself, how have I loved?


In a world that has become increasingly dark, how can I choose to love? Show kindness? Encourage? Leave a positive impression of Jesus on someone else instead of the many trinkets I have accumulated over time:)

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