Don't keep hoarding for yourselves earthly treasures that can be stolen by theives. Material wealth eventually rusts, decays, and loses its value. Matt 6:19 (TPT)
Book of Treasure – Treasures Series – Part 1
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
First a note on Bible reading: This phrase was part of Jesus' famous, “Sermon on the Mount.” Some two thousand years later and within a different culture, we tend to read the transcript of his sermon with modern ears and a detached disposition. I cannot tell people enough that one of the keys to reading this wondrous collection of stories and poems and wisdom writings and songs called the Bible, is to immerse yourself in its times. Get familiar with the context. Don’t arrive at it with your ideas and assumptions about what it says. Be open hearted and open handed about what it communicates. Imagine you were there on that warm sunny day in Rome occupied Israel, with every social, political and religious tension possible gnawing at your mind and heart, fraying the peace of the community, begging for revolution.
Jesus words struck at the hearts of the people. He ignited their imaginations and shook their core values. He challenged them to, first of all, THINK, and then to think differently and look at things from a new perspective. How easy it is for you and me to sit in the middle of our lives and read the sacred words of Jesus without really seeing them or hearing them for what they really are.
“Treasure” used in Matt 6:19, means “a place in which things are collected.” It’s the word “Thesauros,” and is the sibling of the word “Thesaurus” which means, “treasury of words.” It’s the container you put your prized and precious things into to keep them separate and safe. The fact that you put these things here in this place means that they are indeed treasures. Treasure includes both the container and the items inside.
Our treasures (the place we put things and things we put in a safe place) reveal a lot about who we are.
When I as sixteen, I found an old book in an even older church library. It was musty and dusty, the edges were yellowed and the paper had become stiff. I popped it in my bag, carried it home, read it, and this book that had been abandoned by its original owner, completely changed my life. I never returned it. The library was dismantled and the books sent to thrift stores anyway, but I kept this book safe. 17 years later, I’ve read this book more than three times through. The pages are dog-eared and and have goldened beyond yellow. The front cover was torn off recently by my daughter, and the first 100 pages are detached from the last 350… but still, I keep this treasured book “Taliesin” by Stephen Lawhead. It’s precious to me.
Take a moment and think about the things that you treasure and value. Where do you keep them? Where do they dwell in your life? And be honest with yourself: What does your life say that you treasure?
Jesus spoke of a different kind of treasury, a heavenly one. One that resides in another realm and is full of things that may be less quantifiable and certain and harder to objectify than money and materials and fortunes.
“You can buy two sparrows for only a copper coin, yet not even one sparrow falls from its nest without the knowledge of your Father. Aren’t you worth much more to God than many sparrows? So don’t worry. For your Father cares deeply about even the smallest detail of your life.” Matt 10:29-31 (The Passion Translation).
Your turn…What does your life say that your treasure? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below.
Go to Part 2 – Stuff of Treasures »
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