In Matthew 6:21 Jesus continues his treasure discourse by saying, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” or as Eugene Peterson paraphrases, “The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
Long ago, in a kingdom far, far away, a rich king hired a fool to entertain him and make him laugh when he was sad. He gave the fool a golden sceptre and told him that when he met a greater fool than he, to pass the golden sceptre to that person.
Years passed and one day the king grew very ill. As he neared death, the king called for his fool wanting to be made to laugh one last time.
“I am going on a very long journey,” said the king to the fool.
“Have you made preparations and arranged for accommodations at your destination?”asked the fool.
“No,” answered the king. “I've been too busy and I didn't think I would be leaving so soon.”
The fool handed the king his golden sceptre and said, “Sire, you are a greater fool than me since you have made no plans for your long journey.”
How many stories have you heard of people chasing after “ultimate” things that turned out to not be very ultimate? The job, the partner, the title - all things that, had we listened closely, we might have heard our heart say we didn’t really need that thing.
N. T. Wright, offers three applications for us regarding the treasure teaching of Jesus: (1) Keep your eyes fixed on God; (2) Take care about what you actually look at; (3) Look in the direction you should go, so that you are ready for the road ahead.
Heavenly Father, you are the source of all spiritual blessing. Teach me to value the eternal treasures of your kingdom over the temporal things of earth. Let my soul become a storehouse of these blessings for my own sake and for the sake of the people I love. Fill me with love, joy, peace, and all other attributes of your kingdom. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment