We are all searching for something that will fill our souls, our hearts and our minds with joy, peace and love. We may find it in people, things or experiences. Matthew 6:21 TPT – For your heart will always pursue what you esteem as your treasure.
Without even really thinking about it we have already chosen what we love most and believe is valuable purely by giving it our full attention and time - more than all the other options we have. We naturally grow a passion for things or people and if we do not think about what we are doing we can end up valuing something that is not that good for us, could cause us problems in the long term and get us off track with what we are here on earth for. We could miss out on our whole purpose. So, if we want to be sure that we are making wise choices and being good stewards of our time here then we need to be sure we are pursuing and desiring what is truly valuable and of the upmost worth, remembering that our time here is short but eternity is forever.
Matthew 6:19-21 MSG “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse! —stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
Treasure is not just money, property – riches and wealth. We can get sucked in by things that literally have no value at all. Humans have the ability to get sentimental or passionate about almost anything.
Some people struggle with impulse buying or feeling the pressure to buy the bargain because it’s so cheap – they think they are saving – but actually they are spending when they do not need it. I’ve heard of people collecting stamps, coins. baseball cards, vinyl records, comic books, vintage movie posters, miniature cars, fridge magnets, autographs, first editions… Jesus wants us to be cautious and not get carried away.
Consider the saying – ‘one man's trash is another man's treasure,’ this means, what’s useless to one person is valuable to another. However, I believe there is a lot of confusion in our world over what is trash and what is treasure. The world we live in muddies the clarity over what holds value and worth.
There are many things that God has provided for us and given to us that are so precious… such as beautiful vistas, animals, our loved ones, flowers, delicious food, coffee, wonderful smells, delightful music. Every day we can enjoy the good things of this earth that have been gifted by our good heavenly Father. We know that the garden of Eden was a paradise unparalleled to what we are experiencing on our planet now.
The Bible encourages us to enjoy the beauty of this earth. But our verse warns us that whatever our heart pursues is our treasure and because the world muddies the clarity over what is valuable and what isn’t we often get caught up pursuing things of no value.
Q: What is your treasure? What do you pursue? I enjoy my cat, chooks, flowers, fashion, movies, coffee, but I need to be very careful that these things do not fill up my heart, too much of my time, my thought life and become my greatest treasure. These are temporary and they will fade away. Cats die, flowers come and go, fashion changes to fast to keep up, movies fill my mind with unhelpful stuff and coffee can make my heart/beat too fast and dehydrate me. True treasure doesn’t die, never changes, is good for my mind, soul, body and spirit.
So if you give too much eye and ear time to movies, gaming, fashion, food, shopping online, worldly knowledge, alcohol, celebrities, you may be making these things your treasure.
Q: Do any of these things get more of your time or your thought life than God?
Mother of the bride: In December I will be mother of the bride for our daughter. I’ve been looking online at potential dresses to help me decide what style I would like. When I finish looking, close my device and close my eyes to sleep I can still see the images even with my eyes shut. This reminds me that whatever I give time too [movies, online shopping or games] stays in our minds after we have turned off the device.
I used to like reading novels and I read them a lot when I was a teenager. I found myself struggling to come out of the story and back into the reality of my life, almost adding the characters of the story into my own world. I was escaping from my emotional pain. Maybe some of the things we pursue are a focus because we do not want to focus on reality we actually have because it’s too painful. Worldly treasure is often used this way, to comfort, distract, push off disappointment.
The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy and he uses worldly treasure to keep our eyes off the one true treasure – the kingdom of heaven and Jesus Christ our Lord.
Q Do you use worldly treasure to comfort and distract you from your pain?
Isaiah 55:2 NLT Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good?
1. What is true treasure? We have been offered a treasure that is greater than anything we can find in this world.
Colossians 3:1-3 TPT Christ’s resurrection is your resurrection too. This is why we are to yearn for all that is above, for that’s where Christ sits enthroned at the place of all power, honor, and authority! Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm. Your crucifixion with Christ has severed the tie to this life, and now your true life is hidden away in God in Christ.
GODS WORD IS TREASURE
Psalms 119:111, 162 TPT “Everything you speak to me is like joyous treasure, filling my life with gladness.”....“I rejoice in your word like one who discovers a great treasure.”
FEAR OF THE LORD IS TREASURE
Isaiah 33:6 NLT In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord will be your treasure!
We should position ourselves to give the Lord the respect and honor that He deserves. Fear Him for He is a Holy God. This will strengthen us – heart, soul, mind, spirit.
· WISDOM IS TREASURE
Proverbs 3:14 TPT) As wisdom increases, a great treasure is imparted, greater than many bars of refined gold.
But the most important treasure of all is…
· THE LORD HIMSELF IS OUR TREASURE
Have we met Him, do we know Him, do we understand how wonderful He is?
Job: 22:23-25 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored—so clean up your life. If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river, the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!
When you have your arms full of worldly treasure, you are unable to grasp hold of the most wonderful treasure of all. We must let go of all things that mean more to us than He does and make Him our no. one focus.
2. How do we find this true treasure?
Look for the Lord and you will find Him!
Jeremiah 29: 12 – 14 NLT In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes.
Isaiah 55:6 NLT 'Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. '
Give away your life and take hold of Jesus life instead.
We can’t keep all our worldly false treasures and have Jesus too, we need to empty our hands or everything and take Him only as our one true treasure.
Matthew 10:39 NLT If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.
Biblical Examples:
· Jesus saved Mary Magdalene from a stoning when she was caught in adultery by a bunch of guys. He also delivered her from 7 demons. So Mary had a great love for Jesus, she had discovered what she had been looking for her whole life – the greatest treasure – her Saviour and Lord. He loved her unconditionally and so she loved him and poured a large expensive bottle of perfume over Jesus’ feet and she wiped His feet with her hair and her tears. Jesus became her focus, she followed Him, listened to His teaching and obeyed Him. He became her treasure.
Q: Jesus loves you unconditionally too, how devoted are you to Him?
· King David had been faithful, unfaithful, good king and a bad king, moral, and immoral. He had followed God and sometimes He allowed His own fears to dictate His actions and he sometimes made some dumb decisions. But God was always faithful to Him, so He writes…
Psalms 16:5 TPT Yahweh, you alone are my inheritance. You are my prize, my pleasure, and my portion. You hold my destiny and its timing in your hands.
Have you ever seen a couple of old people walking down the road, hand in hand, clearly in love and possibly been married for more than 60 years. That’s what we all want our marriages to be like. They can finish each other’s sentences, they know what’s on their spouses mind etc… but…If we do not make the effort of inputting into our relationship then we will never have a marriage like that.
It is the same with our relationship with Jesus. If we don’t put some effort into our relationship with Him, take time to be with just Him, talking and listening to Him, obeying His word Him, worshipping Him, then we are not being intimate, and we are not growing the relationship.
It is important that we don’t just seek him and find him, but they we get to know Him intimately, know His heart.
3. What we do once we have found it
Matthew 13:44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.
We know we have found true treasure in Jesus, when we are prepared to get rid of everything else in our lives and make room for Him – focus & priority.
2 Timothy 1:14 TPT Guard well this incomparable treasure by the Spirit of Holiness living within you
4. We are His Treasure
God made us like Him, not only has He made us to have and enjoy treasure, but God has a treasure too. Song of Solomon tells us we are that treasure. The groom is Jesus, the bride is the church.
Song of Solomon 4:9 –10 You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace. Your love delights me, my treasure, my bride. Your love is better than wine, your perfume more fragrant than spices.
Song of Songs 2:16 TPT I know my lover is mine and I have everything in you, for we delight ourselves in each other.
Let’s be determined to delight ourselves in Jesus more and more. I encourage you to allow the love of Jesus to overwhelm you. Do not be afraid. It will take eternity to fully grasp, but let’s make sure we make the most of His love here and now.