Where Your Treasure is...

“For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:21

As a child, I always used to hum the tune, “I left my heart in San Francisco”, by Tony Bennett. I used to wonder what “she” must have been like for “him” to claim that he left his heart behind. When I met Rebecca, I finally understood.

While in Africa this month I got a glimpse of that feeling again as I left a people and a continent that I instantly fell in love with. Additionally, while there, as we were about to take flight number 5 out of 9, I realized that I had left a very special neck pillow behind at our hotel. We only had one hour before the flight was to take off and several people on our team offered to let me use their various neck pillows. However, this one was special. My son Alex had given it to me as a special gift and I had brought it over 9,000 miles and to leave it behind would be devastating to him. I entertained the thought and each time, I realized that it would be on my mind everyday for the rest of the trip and beyond. Every time I laid my head down I would see my son’s face and the disappointment of not bringing it back with me. So 40 minutes, a very fast taxi ride and $200,000 Zambian Kwacha later, I had my pillow. Leaving that pillow behind would have caused a piece of my heart to be there forever.

Although my situation was of a sentimental kind, I was reminded of a more serious truth about treasure in the above passage. Whatever or whomever we treasure will be the place holder of our hearts. The things, places or people whom we treasure the most own the rights to the loyalty of our hearts.

The implication in Scripture is that Christ wants to be that treasure and that our loyalty, our focus, our hearts yearning should be of eternal things, things that will last for eternity, namely our Lord, our eternal home and those made in His image, all which will last for eternity. If we value Christ and our relationship with Him above all else, our hearts will forever be in the right place and our “treasure” will last forever.

Let’s take an inventory this week. Where is your treasure?

With you on the journey,
MJ