Have you ever thought about what you treasure the most? What priority would you place those things? I often wonder about this as I’m sitting in the exit row of an airplane and the stewardess says, “if something happens to this plane and we have to make an emergency landing, leave everything behind and exit the plane through the emergency door as quickly as you can!” Honestly, my mind goes blank after hearing “leave everything behind”. I think, I can’t leave my laptop. It’s my office, it’s my brain. I wonder if people would be angry with me if the rest of the passengers saw me carrying my Mac. Are they all thinking the same thing? Oh, the turmoil that that one statement creates.
We’ve had a couple of house fires right around where we live over the last couple of months. Everything was lost, even the 2 cars were left in the garage as people barely escaped with their lives. Perhaps, it takes these types of events to cause us to ask the question “what do we treasure the most!” Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis can all reduce the things we treasure and have built up over a lifetime to a pile of rubble in just seconds. Perhaps that why, Jesus said they would increase as we got closer to the end of the age in Mark 13:8 (ESV)
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.”
So, back to the question. What do you treasure the most? Family? Job? Making money? Hobby? etc? Jesus said this in Matthew 6:19-12 (ESV)
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust 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. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When something is a true treasure or priority in your life, there isn’t anything you won’t do to finance that treasure. I’ve seen people literally spend millions on hobbies that are temporal things. We are one of the richest nations in the world. We have been blessed without measure, yet the lust for more seems never to be quenched. Cheryl and I went fishing with her sister and husband while we were on vacation. The captain of the boat showed us a piece of property that sold for approximately $9 million, without the house. The old house that had been on the property was torn down and a huge new house was being built. No expense was spared. The new owner? Country western singer Garth Brooks.
As followers of Jesus, He should be the number one treasure in our lives. Everything starts there. Yet so often, our actions do not back up our words. Approximately 75% of the 333.9 million in our nation define themselves as Christians. Yet since the end of Covid, only 4% of church goers tithe, down from 11%, and churches are 40 – 50% smaller than before Covid. Perhaps we as church leaders have not done a sufficient job in presenting Jesus as the ultimate treasure. Church is not the ultimate treasure, Jesus is!! However, church is one of the organisms that reflects the person of Jesus to a lost world. When we love and function as we’re supposed to, we push back the darkness and defeat principalities. We become that light positioned on a hill. When Jesus is our treasure, we willfully forsake everything and fall in love with Him. He’s not just someone we believe in intellectually, He is someone you love with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. When He is our treasure, transformation comes easily. It’s being willing to sacrifice self and put on Jesus.
I believe currently; the Lord is sorting out those who worship Him as a treasure and those who worship Him only when its convenient. On a personal level, I want to pass the test. I know one thing; I love Him more every day. There are 2 stories in scripture that illustrate this point. The first is the story of rich young ruler of Matthew 19:16-22 (ESV)
“Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? [No one Is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”18 He said to Him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
Now contrast Jesus’ comments with most of the teaching that comes out of many “mega churches” pulpits. Come to Jesus and he’ll give you all the “stuff” you want. What Jesus said is polar opposite. “If you really treasure me, it will cost you everything to follow me” (my paraphrase)
The opposite end of the spectrum is found in the life of Mary who anointed Jesus head with oil with spikenard. Matthew 26:6-10 (ESV)
“Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me”
The cost was said to be a year’s wage. That’s incredible! I ask the question again. Is Jesus your treasure? What will it cost you to follow Him? When we gather, Jesus is in the midst of us. That has always been our desire. “Teach us Lord what it is to follow you and make you our corporate treasure!”