Stored Value!

Stored Value!

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21 KJV

Just a quick definition of a few key terms: treasure and heart. I note that these two terms are in the singular, not the plural, which means that however you view the definitions will be personal to you. This is not one of those 'our' views or our common approach; this is about how God would have me see what He wants me to see in today's extract. This is a ME message, not a OUR message. 

Treasure: according to Google, it is a quantity of precious metals, gems, or other valuable objects. It then means that treasure isn't about one thing, but a quantity of many things. It is not something you stumble on by accident, but it is the product of careful and long-term planning. It is the combination of years of amassing, storing, keeping and saving. If this applies to the physical, just imagine its impact in the spiritual. 

Heart: there is a regular definition for the heart as an organ of the body, but for this purpose, let's look at it from God's perspective: the ruling center of the whole person, the spring of all desires; the seat of the will, intellect and feelings; the center not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life. I am not sure there can be any other way to fully lay out just how important the heart is to all that both God and the devil want to do with the human life. 

These two words are central to today's extract. At the HEART of man's pursuit for TREASURE is the understanding of his purpose. If I know very clearly why I am placed on earth at this point in time, won't it affect the way my HEART seeks after TREASURE? If I know my place in God's scheme of things, won't it affect the kind of TREASURE my HEART seeks after? If I know very clearly what God's VISION for my life is, won't it define very clearly what His PROVISION (for-vision) for that vision is, and won't that very clearly also define what kind of TREASURE my HEART should seek to fulfill that vision?

Do you see the inescapable link between the heart and treasure? We think we can deceive God by giving off 'good' vibes, claiming that we are on His side, while our hearts are busy secretly seeking after the world's gain. We give off the air that we are spiritual, but our hearts seek after the world's goods. Unfortunately, today's extract makes the link between TREASURES and the HEART unbreakable. Whatever it is that your heart is focused on becomes your pursuit. That pursuit defines your new purpose and will become your eternal reality. 

Guess the only question that remains is: what am I spending my life focused on and storing up? Let it be very clear: whether you know it or not, you are actually laying aside treasure for your eternal future. At every point where you have to take a decision, you are actually adding up to the store of treasure you already have. When you decide to submit to temptation and take what doesn't belong to you, you are laying up treasure into eternal damnation. When you resist evil and stand on the side of God, even if it costs you a life, you are laying up treasure into eternal life. 

You see, as hard as it may sound, there is nobody who will live forever down here. At some point in time, if the Lord tarries, all of us will die and face judgment. At that time, it won't matter what the world told you or thought of you; the only thing that would matter will be what your heart was fixed on, and where it was keeping its treasure. I have to make sure that I am making the right type and keeping the right kind of treasure and in the right place. So, it is a complete package: know WHO is important, WHY it is important, and then WHERE I am headed at the end of it all. When I have all these in view, I won't be bothered with the need to be 'better' than you, or compete with you for anything. It is my eternal future I am working for, just as you also have to work for yours. I can't run yours for you and you can't for me. I ask God to help me recognise what is truly important and eternal, AND to keep my eyes fixed on those things. Eternity with God is the price and the prize for that right focus. His time of favour is here.