Treasure

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  

Luke 12:34

Did you ever go on a treasure hunt as a child?  Treasure hunts can come in many forms: Easter egg hunts, scavenger hunts, or the hunt to find that missing sock.  We look around, we follow the clues, we jump for joy when we find for what we've been searching.

The idea of treasure has been on my mind lately.  Recently I helped a friend with her week of girls summer camp.  The theme for their week was "Hidden Treasure" and I happened to have access to a number of GPS units.  What do GPS units, treasure, and camp have to do with each other, you may be asking?  Have you heard of geocaching?  It's a great activity that involves hi-tech treasure hunting all over the world.   I was able to create a series of geocaches on the camp's grounds and through clues in the form of Bible verses and the use of the GPS units the girls were able to search for the caches and claim their treasures.  The treasures varied but there were a number of puzzle pieces the girls were to collect while on their treasure hunt.  Those pieces were joined together at the end of the week to produce a completed puzzle that bore the week's verse: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Luke 12:34.  The project was cool but my greatest hope is that the girls were able to come away from camp, with all of the various activities in which they participated, with Biblical treasure stored in their hearts.

Treasure.  Treasure means different things to different people.  Some people like their treasures big; others like their treasures small.  What do you treasure?  Proverbs 2:3-5 says we should seek wisdom and understanding: Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.  Colossians 2:2b-3 speaks a similar theme: To reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Wisdom is a treasure we should diligently seek.  Where can we find it?  In Christ!  I believe as Christians we understand this basic truth.  But with that understanding do we apply it to ourselves?  Personally, there's no way I can say that I apply it on a regular basis.  Of this I am ashamed and kick myself every time I'm convicted of my choices and my failure to seek His wisdom for me.

The things we treasure are those things we seek on which to spend our time.  Lately I've chosen to spend my time watching a lot of TV; not the best choice.  I've had the theme of this post in mind for at least 2 weeks and now I'm finally sitting down to work on it.  My priorities, my treasures, were not on Godly things unfortunately.  Yes, I made time daily to read Scripture but I didn't allow myself extra time to read or to study it further.  My heart hasn't been in the right place because my treasure hasn't been in the right place either. 

As I researched Scripture to complete this post I came a upon an interesting theme regarding treasure: fear.  The fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure.  Isaiah 33:6b  I can't say that I've really thought of fear as a treasure before, but it makes sense.  The fear mentioned here does not mean to cower.  Here in this verse it has a meaning of being reverent.*  Am I truly fearing the Lord; putting Him in His proper place in my life?  This kind of reverent fear is a true treasure.  Surrendering to His will for my life is the reverence that the Lord deserves from me.  I am nothing without Him.  I wouldn't exist without Him and to think that I can do anything on my own is foolishness.  My fear, my reverence,  places me in His will so He can provide for me the way He has always wanted.  Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!  Psalm 31:19

 
In the previous paragraphs I've spoken of treasure as something that we are to seek and store in our hearts.  Now consider this verse: For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.  The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7:6.  We are His treasure!  In the KJV it says we are His "special people."  Wow!  God has sought me out as a treasure of His own!  Yes, I am still to seek Him all the time but the fact that He wants me as His own personal treasure.. Wow!  This is a concept that is almost hard to put into words.  Read the verse again and think about what it means.  He treasures me, He treasures you!  Remember this when you are struggling to love a fellow Christian who isn't easy to love.

You may have recognized the ring in the picture at the beginning of this post.  Yes, it is the ring from The Lord of The Rings.  I chose it because I remember Gollum's** behavior regarding the ring.  He called it "my precious."  He sought after it, kept watch over it, not wanting anyone else to take it away from him.  Are we like that with what God wants us to treasure?  Maybe we aren't currently at that point.  I know I'm working on it.  With God's help, I am able to treasure more of Him every day; to seek His treasures for me more each day. 

Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.  Ecclesiastes 2:11.  Our actions show what we treasure.  Our actions show what is in our hearts.  Are we striving for what God wants for us or what the world says we should treasure?

What treasures are in your heart? 

Sister Jane

Romans 14:8

*I looked up the Hebrew.  Yes, I'm a girl with a Strong's Concordance on her bookshelf.  Yes, I'm a geek.  :)
** I am NOT suggesting that we follow the entire example of Gollum with respect to the ring, his treasure.

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Creature update:  The Convent's cats have recently discovered Frank.  They enjoy watching him through the screen door.  I'm thankful the door is there or the cats would have chased him away by now.  Also a woodchuck visited the water bowl recently.  That was not expected.  It was a quick visit so I wasn't able to get a picture of him to share with you.

The Convent cats saying "hello" to Frank.