WHAT TREASURES ARE YOU STORING UP?
Greetings through the grace and love of Jesus:
This coming year we are studying different parables fro Jesus as He taught about the Kingdom of God. Matthew 6:19-24 speaks to us about the treasures that we tend to store up for ourselves. We hear a lot about tithing during the studies of this passage of scripture, but the parable isn't just about money. I think there are many scholars who miss the point here that Jesus is trying to teach us about the parts of self we hoard away from God's use. The money is actually a small part of the problem we have in storing things up in this life. We have many things that we can classify as treasures besides money or worldly riches that we just as equally keep away from everyone else but us.
I can think of the three things that we possess that make us rich indeed...Time, Talents, and treasures. Two out of the three of these gets somehow downplayed as less then treasures because the treasures are what can be used by all people. Time and talents are very individual things, and very unique things to us as people. This is one of those areas that get easily skipped over because with dealing in the issue of our treasures it is too easy to simply throw some money at a problem and let someone else be responsible for seeing it gets done. I believe that when Jesus spoke of this He was talking about our obedience and acts of obedience directly to God. While there is a sense of investment made in giving our money to God there is an even greater sense of investment by our intention to seek out the fulfillment of God's purpose in all that we do, and not merely in what we do with our money.
If we are honest having Spiritual vision is having the ability to see clearly what God wants from us instead of looking the other way or trying to find a convenient way out of getting personally involved. Once we are involved in the work that God has for us our world view changes rather quickly. Spiritual insight can easily be clouded by treasures of the heart. Self serving desires, and interests, and personal goals can block our spiritual vision just like the little story from my last blog about looking into the mirror, but seeing only self. The truth is that we have only one master and we are not him. We all live in a very materialistic society where most people serve money. They spend their lives collecting it only to die with nothing they can take with them. My friends our real treasure is that which will stay with us for eternity. It is that which we develop and can take inside of us through what ever the journey is that we may experience. Even in death in this world we shall never be without that which has been made a part of us. Those are riches far beyond compare to any of these earthly riches that will simply be lost to us in death. What ever it is that you choose to spend time to store up as wealth in your heart will be what you spend you time thinking about so I ask you please don't fall into that materialistic trap that keeps your mind clinging to this world...you will never find your true purpose in Christ if you do , and you will never be able to be transformed into a new creature....if you can't be transformed you simply will never fit into His Kingdom. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
This coming year we are studying different parables fro Jesus as He taught about the Kingdom of God. Matthew 6:19-24 speaks to us about the treasures that we tend to store up for ourselves. We hear a lot about tithing during the studies of this passage of scripture, but the parable isn't just about money. I think there are many scholars who miss the point here that Jesus is trying to teach us about the parts of self we hoard away from God's use. The money is actually a small part of the problem we have in storing things up in this life. We have many things that we can classify as treasures besides money or worldly riches that we just as equally keep away from everyone else but us.
I can think of the three things that we possess that make us rich indeed...Time, Talents, and treasures. Two out of the three of these gets somehow downplayed as less then treasures because the treasures are what can be used by all people. Time and talents are very individual things, and very unique things to us as people. This is one of those areas that get easily skipped over because with dealing in the issue of our treasures it is too easy to simply throw some money at a problem and let someone else be responsible for seeing it gets done. I believe that when Jesus spoke of this He was talking about our obedience and acts of obedience directly to God. While there is a sense of investment made in giving our money to God there is an even greater sense of investment by our intention to seek out the fulfillment of God's purpose in all that we do, and not merely in what we do with our money.
If we are honest having Spiritual vision is having the ability to see clearly what God wants from us instead of looking the other way or trying to find a convenient way out of getting personally involved. Once we are involved in the work that God has for us our world view changes rather quickly. Spiritual insight can easily be clouded by treasures of the heart. Self serving desires, and interests, and personal goals can block our spiritual vision just like the little story from my last blog about looking into the mirror, but seeing only self. The truth is that we have only one master and we are not him. We all live in a very materialistic society where most people serve money. They spend their lives collecting it only to die with nothing they can take with them. My friends our real treasure is that which will stay with us for eternity. It is that which we develop and can take inside of us through what ever the journey is that we may experience. Even in death in this world we shall never be without that which has been made a part of us. Those are riches far beyond compare to any of these earthly riches that will simply be lost to us in death. What ever it is that you choose to spend time to store up as wealth in your heart will be what you spend you time thinking about so I ask you please don't fall into that materialistic trap that keeps your mind clinging to this world...you will never find your true purpose in Christ if you do , and you will never be able to be transformed into a new creature....if you can't be transformed you simply will never fit into His Kingdom. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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