How are you? How is your week? What has been your treasure this week?
We all treasure something. We might treasure our work and our success. We might treasure our money and our possessions. We might treasure our hobbies and our entertainment. We might treasure our family and our relationships. What is your treasure?
It’s not sinful to treasure these things. It’s not sinful to save or to spend money. It’s not sinful to be frugal or to enjoy God’s gifts. But Jesus warns us over and over again with this question: What is our ultimate treasure?
It is sinful to save when money or possessions are our ultimate treasure. It is sinful to spend when our pleasure becomes our ultimate treasure. It is sinful to be consumed with our family or relationships when they become our ultimate treasure.
It is sinful when what you have, whether it be possessions or people, define who you are.
In the parable of the rich fool, it was sinful for him to save for retirement, because it was his ultimate treasure. It defined who he was.
The only way to overcome our love for self and our idols is not to try to kill them by our own strength. The only way to overcome our love for self and our idols is to replace that love with a greater love. It’s to replace earthly treasure with the greater heavenly treasure.
However, we don’t treasure the things in heaven, but we treasure the God in heaven. He becomes our greater love. He becomes our greater treasure.
The only way that happens is to understand that we have been loved first. Christ pursued us in love even though we were His enemies. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus is the greater love who was crucified for our sins.
And Christ is the One who treasured us first. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). He lost everything on the cross so that He may be with us, His treasured possession.
Take some time this week and meditate on His love for you. May His love transform you to see Him as your greatest love and your most precious treasure.
See you at Lord’s Day worship this week! Members, attend the congregational meeting in the main worship hall this Sunday. The start time is actually 11:20am, not 11:45am. I will be sure to send a reminder email later this week.
Go in His grace and peace.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
Image source: christianitymatters.com