When I was a child I would play in my grandparents’ house,
especially the upstairs rooms that used to belong to my mom and her brothers. I remember picking up a shirt from a chest of
drawers and it dissolved in my hands because it had been eaten by moths. Growing
up in Iowa, cars rusted due to humidity and salted roads (because of the snow).
Later, I lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in an older neighborhood and had my
house robbed twice.
I share these stories because they make Matthew 6:19-21
(ESV) all the more relatable. This verse instructs, “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.”
I learned from a young age that things (cars, clothes and
personal possessions) don’t last. This didn’t dissuade me from enjoying or even
owning nice things, as a few years ago I purchased and restored a 67’ Camaro.
However, even that project was quick to bring me back to reality as I worried
every time I drove the car that it might get dented or scratched. In the end
the cost of maintaining the car surpassed the joy of owning it and I ended up
selling it.
What’s the moral of our tale today? Simple, God desires that
we have no distractions when it comes to our devotion to Him. He gives us a handy way of measuring the
object of our affection: examine where you spend your money and you will see
where your true allegiance lies. God is not against us storing up good things,
He just reminds us to pursue things that last and that will go with us on our
eternal journey.
[Prayer]: Lord help me not to get caught up in the shiny,
pretty stuff of this world, that is here today and gone tomorrow. Teach me to devote
my time, talents and tender to things of lasting value. Guide me as I invest
instead in people and share with them the timeless truths of your enduring
love. In Jesus mighty name. Amen.
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