Hello my friends

The title of today’s episode is: “TREASURES

Matt 6:21 –“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Show me what people spend their money and time on, and I will show you what they treasure.  Treasures are the things we value the most.

This verse made me think about what a lot of people treasure in this life. Many people will automatically think of a pirate chest full of jewels and gold worth a lot of money.  Some people treasure their money and all the extravagance it can buy for them.

Then my thoughts turned to myself: what do I treasure? I was raised to value things like friendships and gifts made from the heart. I have never been a materialistic person.

Let me ask you a question? What if I told you that your house was going to blow up and nothing would be left, your family is safe and your pets are safe. I will even allow you a freebie of getting all your important papers that are in your fireproof safe.

The family is safe and your pets and paperwork, now I tell you that you can go inside and safely get five things before it explodes.  What would you get? What would be the five things that mean the most to you? It doesn’t matter how big or small the items are, just that they are important to you.

I spent a lot of time pondering this question myself. I never want to ask you a question that I don’t ask myself first. I wish that I could say that my first thought was my bible. I would like to be so spiritual that it was my first thought, but it wasn’t.

I thought about a wooden shelf that my grandfather made me when I was six.  It is not fancy, and neither is it made from some expensive wood.  It was made from plywood.  But my family was moving into our new house, and I told him I needed a shelf in my room.  A couple of days later, he gave me this shelf. I treasure it because he made it for me. He has made me many nice pieces of furniture and shelves since, but that one means the most to me.

I finally completed my list, including my Bible, after I was reading my prayer journal from many years ago, and I came across an entry that had me in tears. I worked for a car dealership and used to work as a fill-in operator at lunch at my job.  Every day, I would take my bible and a notebook to the switchboard with me.  I would make notes for the next issue of my newsletter or daily devotionals.

One day, I was sitting there answering the phone when this lady approached me. I am not sure what nationality she was; she looked oriental. I assumed maybe Chinese.  She was looking for the service department. Her eyes lit up as she looked down at my Bible and said, “OH, Is that a Bible? You are reading it out here?”

I said, “Yes, I try to read it every day while I am out here waiting for the phone to ring.”

She responded, “I have seen them a few times. Our church had one.” Our church had…One. Something tugged on my heart when she said it, “Our church had one.”

I looked at her and said, “You do not have a bible?” She sadly said no.  I immediately dumped out all my pieces of paper that had notes on them and that I was using for bookmarks and said, “Here, you can have this one.”

She took a step backward away from me and said, “Oh no, no, I could never take such a treasure from you.”

I said it’s okay. I have another one at home.”  It wasn’t even a fancy study bible. It did not have a thumb index or chain reference. It was one of the Sunday school award bibles I bought for like ten bucks. Just to keep at work.

She looked surprised and timidly asked, “You have two?” I said yes. Really, it’s okay; you can have it. She said ok, and she took that bible and clutched it to her chest like I had given her a million dollars.  It made me feel like I didn’t treasure the word of God enough. I felt very spoiled and puny as a Christian not to treasure my bible.

Anyone who needs a bible I try to provide one or them. It is our lifeline, our road map. It is strength and life, it is God written out on a page that we may understand him better. It is our salvation, healing, and our manual for life.

There is another verse, Psalm 119:16-Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.

If we can take our bible and treasure it like that little woman did, we will read it and study it until we live and breathe it. No one will be able to remove it from our hearts.  There could come a day when the government may come and steal the paper books from us. But if we have God’s word in us, they can’t take away such a treasure.

This is why it is important to study the word and hide it in our hearts. Many times I will be facing something and a verse will come to mind. God will bring it to our remembrance when we need it.  But it must be hidden in our hearts first.

I encourage you to challenge yourself. Find a verse that encourages you. Memorize it.  Think if you learned one verse a week. At the end of the year, you would know fifty-two verses. Now multiply that by five years, ten years. How long would it take before you were a walking concordance like my grandfather? More than the shelf he made me or anything he did for me, he was the one who pointed me to Jesus.

What do you treasure? Silver and gold, a big screen TV the newest smart phone? Or do you treasure that word, that has the power to transform, encourage, deliver, heal and save. Then next time you don’t want to read or study your bible think about the little woman I met, think about how excited she was to just have a bible in her hands that was her very own, because where she was from, her church had one.

The treasure chest of our spiritual life is our heart. If it is in our hearts, it will show on the outside in our lives. Our Christian walk is all about having a good heart. We need to pour good things into our lives, and it will show.  When the heart is full of God’s word, we will have something encouraging to say to anyone who needs a little kindness.

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Thanks for spending a little time with me. Think about your treasures and choose wisely. Check out my blog at http://www.godfocus.net. Until next time, Be bold, Be brave and keep your God Focus.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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