God Speaking

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal” – Matthew 6:19 – 20

When I was a small child, a part of every birthday party was “the treasure hunt”. How we loved finding those tiny little packages of goodies. Squeals of delight would erupt as we unwrapped our treasure to find that ruby ring or that little tin watch. Our tastes were not quite as sophisticated as this present generation of children…..Yes! Before the age of plastics, toys were made from wood and tin.

The word treasure conjures up a myriad of images and what people would define as treasure varies from person to person. I have friends who spend Saturday mornings hunting for treasure at garage sales. I must admit some of their finds don’t look like treasure to me.

Movies and comic books would have us believe that treasure can be found in some long forgotten casket, that when pried open would reveal priceless pearls and nuggets of gold. Perhaps we all have a little dream tucked away at the back of our minds we will stumble on a treasure like that. Just recently one of our local malls ran a promotion involving a box of treasure which was locked, but some lucky shopper would be able to open with a special key. Hundreds of keys were mailed out and the line ups every day for people to try their key were amazing.

We have friends who live in the outback of Queensland in Australia who have traces of opals in the rocky outcrops on their property. We have gone with them searching for any signs of this exquisite gem. The finds have no commercial value, but when we took part in this adult type of treasure hunt, the joy of finding this treasure and marveling at the display of iridescent color was well worth the search.

Thinking back on our search for those opals reminded me of the parable Jesus told of a man who on finding a pearl of great price in a field sold everything he owned to buy the field so that the precious treasure could be his. (Matthew 13:44) Jesus was not talking about a real pearl, but was illustrating that his kingdom was worth selling everything we had just to become a citizen of this promised glorious kingdom.

We don’t have to stand in a long line up, hoping against hope that our key is that special one. The Bible tells us who this treasure is and how we might have it for ourselves.

“He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure” – Isaiah 33:6

When we realize the treasure the Lord is offering us, we need to take a long hard look at the priorities in our life. How much time are we devoting to building up our earthly treasure trove which the Bible tells us, rust and moth and even thieves will destroy and how much time are we eagerly pursuing the treasure so freely offered in Jesus Christ?

The most beautiful thing about being willing to give up what the entire world considers a treasure, in order to become one of the Lord’s flock, is that we ourselves become his treasured possession.

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. . . . . ” – Exodus 19:5

Armed with the knowledge of being God‘s treasured possession and knowing how useless it is to run after what the world offers as treasure, we can confidently know that we have chosen the treasure that will last forever. We have found the treasure trove of joy.

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• Weekly Wisdoms for the week of July 4, 2011 (christianfamilymatters.wordpress.com)
• Audio Readings July 27, 2011 17th Week in Ordinary Time (sacredheartcatholicchurchcrosbytexas.wordpress.com)
• My struggle with believing in future grace (veritasmizzou.wordpress.com)
• You Can Have All This World, Just Give Me Jesus. A Meditation on the Gospel for the 17th Sunday of the Year (adw.org)
• On looking for a future that is still colored by the faults of the present. (lifeondoverbeach.wordpress.com)