Genesis 6; Matthew 6; Ezra 6; Acts 6: Proverbs 6
A new year has begun and I am once again using the M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan. I am adding a reading from Proverbs this year as well-a chapter a day. This year I am reading in the New American Standard Bible translation (NASB) which is still my favorite. I want to encourage you once again to pick a plan and read through your Bible-not out of some sense of obligation, but rather to joyfully discover what God has to say to you about Himself and how we should live in this crazy world.
On to today’s reading.
When I hear something over and over again in a short period of time I tend to think it is time to sit up and take notice. Matthew 6: 19-21 is just such a passage. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
I first heard this message during our drive back from Texas this week-a sermon on the radio that made some very good points about what we treasure. Though I think the main point was related to Matthew 13:44-45, the parables about what the kingdom of heaven is like. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
I came across these very same verses yesterday in a book I picked up to start my reading this year, Pharisectomy; How to Joyfully Remove Your Inner Pharisee and Other Religiously Transmitted Diseases. A little soul-searching is good for me, but it takes courage to really take a good, hard, honest look at oneself.
So where is my treasure? I have to ask. Do I really live as one who has found a treasure of great worth, a treasure that leads me to joyfully give away everything else I have in order to obtain it? There is a lot to ponder as I consider Jesus’ words to me today.
Why is it so important to consider where my treasure is? I believe part of that answer is given a little further on in my reading. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Matthew 6:24.
Grace, peace, and mercy,
Debra