Things of Value

Good Morning!

Matthew 6:19-34 (English Standard Version)
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.[b]
Do Not Be Anxious
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[c] 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Footnotes:
a. Matthew 6:19 Or worm; also verse 20
b. Matthew 6:24 Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions
c. Matthew 6:27 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

Grandma Ward’s house (1001 Oakdale Road NE in Atlanta GA) had two basements. Well, actually it had one basement that was divided into two rooms. Access to the basement was either from the stairs in the Little Apartment’s bathroom or from the outside. The stairs from the bathroom led down into the main basement where the furnace was located. The outside entrance led into a room that appeared to have been a place where hired help had stayed in an earlier period. Each room, though, had a massive steamer trunk where Grandma kept things. I don’t think there was anything of value in the steamer trunks – probably just some clothes from the by gone era of long dresses at the beginning of the Twentieth century. My Grandma was sixteen when 1900 came – so I am sure she wore high buttoned shoes and dresses with lots of petticoats, long sleeves and high collars. Mother gave us a picture of Grandma when she was young – and I think she was beautiful as young woman. Of course, I only knew Grandma as an older Southern lady – she was 65 when I was born.

What brings up the subject of the trunk is that I am sure to Grandma those items had value so she stuffed them away expecting to use them again. She never did, to my knowledge. I don’t know what happened to those old trunks when she passed away. All I know is that those valued things had very little value in 1975 when she passed.

Sometimes we put value on things that really don’t have too much value. I have a whole attic full of stuff that someday Miss N or I will have to go through. Probably 75% of the stuff isn’t worth keeping – but we still have it tucked away – kinda hanging over our heads (pun intended).

We can fill our lives up with stuff that really doesn’t have much value either. And in the process, we lose our perspective on what is really important. Jesus tells us to not focus on the things of this earth but to look to that which is eternal. He tells us to lay up treasure in heaven… which then begs the question “what is treasure in heaven”? Well, I know that all the gold and silver and precious stones are just building material in heaven. What God values is His creation – YOU, me, and all other humans. We are His treasure. So how do we sore up treasure in heaven? We do so when we share Christ Jesus with those we come in contact. I am not talking about Bible thumping – I am talking about the Christian walk we present.

When I get to my mansion in heaven, I want to open up the steamer trunk in my basement and see the memories of those for whom I have made a difference. I think that will be the greatest legacy that any one of us can have in that golden city. God bless you this day.


Agape’

Mr. Jim