1 Minute Daily Devotions
September 3, 2010
Where is Your Treasure?
"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 and steal." - Matthew 6:19-20
God tells us (quite logically) that it is impossible to take our earthly things with us to heaven. Because of this, He warns us not to emphasize the collection of material possessions while we walk the earth. They have no permanence - not during our brief stay on earth (where moths and rust will destroy them), nor in heaven, where they most certainly cannot be brought along. But while God makes it clear that collecting things is futile, He does tell us that there are some treasures we can take with us to heaven and He urges us to begin building those ingredients right now! What are these treasures?
A glorious treasure waiting for us in heaven are those relationships we have with people that we pointed to Christ. In fact, the only things you can take with you from this life into eternity are those relationships you have with other Christians. God is clear. He wants us to choose relationships over material. So what choice have you made? Are you living for things? Are you living for stuff? Are you basing your decisions on what you want? Or are you putting God first and seeking to point others to Christ from your witness, service and gifts? This leads to the treasures you will experience in heaven. Investing in people for Christ has lasting returns.
What kind of treasure are you building in heaven?
Comments on this Devotion
From Grant on Sep 3rd:
And a swarm of "economic" locusts covered our land and devoured savings, retirement funds, jobs, businesses and farms. The people began to sell all the frivolous things they had bought just to try and survive, but the famine continued. Hurricanes and floods added to the devastation and our enemies are set against us everywhere. But the leaders still deny God and seek their own wisdom.
From Jerry on Sep 3rd:
Amen Grant, a little nicer than I would have put it but I love it. Thanks
From JCO on Sep 3rd:
This means you can't take your Bibles either guys...
From purple416 on Sep 3rd:
We won't need them, we'll be with the Author! Have a Blessed Holiday weekend.
From JCO on Sep 3rd:
An interesting read:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/02/hawking.god.universe/index.html
It was mentioned before there that we can't prove that God doesn't exist, well....scientists like Hawking are trying their best to do just that.
From Grant on Sep 3rd:
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations conspire [a]
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the LORD
and against his Anointed One. [b]
3 "Let us break their chains," they say,
"and throw off their fetters."
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
From JCO on Sep 3rd:
Ohhhh....scary!
From Gail on Sep 3rd:
It's so exciting to behold the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything belongs to Him and He gives to us all the spritual riches and treasures. What a life we have in Christ. I would never ever want to go back to the life I had that the world would call prosperous.
From Christ Follower on Sep 3rd:
Amen to that Gail!
From JCO on Sep 4th:
Gail, as a supposed follower of science, how do you get your head around the article about Hawking? Do you just put your brain on "IGNORE" or do you reconcile the difference another way?
From Paula on Sep 4th:
JCO, have you noticed how the good people here are slowly but surely starting to ignore you and others like you? You're old news...I said it before a by-product, a side step. I will not address you again. This is my one and only deviation, if your will, from my reason to come here. You have indeed made contradictory statements. Your biggest hypocrisy being that while you profess your "logical" anti-religious stance you belittle Christians while defending other faiths or cults. Go back and look at your posts. You are also prejudicial as you are quick to make oh so worn out comments about conservative white Christians. So typical of the decaying left wing rhetoric where tolerance is firmly a one way street. Truth is, you have no new conjectures, Hawking has nothing new to say, nor had Maher and his posse. Countless of “them” have come and gone, but God is still here, and going strong for billions of believers across multiple faiths, races, personalities and intellectual ability. I don't know why you come to this site, nor do I care. I guess I should if I was true to the Christian values of tolerance and love for all, like so many wonderful people here (Gail, Jerry, Christian Follower, Grant etc). For the time being I am still like you just in that I believe Osama Bin Laden is indeed a "jerk" and I would like to see him dead gone.
From JCO on Sep 4th:
Despite being almost completely paralyzed by ALS, Hawking
remains one of the world's foremost theoretical physicists and has contributed greatly to our understanding of the universe.
Paula, you're a Wal-mart shopper.
From Christ Follower on Sep 4th:
Amen Paula, time to ignore and move on and maybe do a little shopping :-)
From Papa on Sep 4th:
"And Fraser Watts, an Anglican priest and Cambridge expert in the history of science, said that it's not the existence of the universe that proves the existence of God.
But, he said, "a creator God provides a reasonable and credible explanation of why there is a universe, and ... it is somewhat more likely that there is a God than that there is not. That view is not undermined by what Hawking has said."
I read the non-sensical article by Hawking and this is what I take from it.
Three cheers for Paula and Wal-mart!!!!
From JCO on Sep 4th:
Oh, and Paula...I don't actually appreciate being called a "by-product", and I think it is not very Christian of you.
And I actually do not defend other faiths. If I've made comments about Islam and such, it is only to point out (in humour) that all faiths are equal in that they are all equally false. Christianity has nothing over Islam, and Islam has nothing over Christianity. They are both inventions by man, delusions of the mind, meant to control people. Maybe one faith is a little more dangerous than the other, but that is neither here nor there.
Truth is, Hawking has a lot of new things to say, as do most "learned" people. As Carl Sagan once said, "It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in a delusion, no matter how satisfying or reassuring." That's the road I will always take - there is reality and their is fiction, so make your choice.
And wishing Osama Bin Laden dead and gone, also doesn't sound very Christian of you, but as an atheist, I'm free to wish these things, you are not ;)
From JCO on Sep 4th:
there is reality and THERE is fiction...
Must be that 3rd glass of wine...
From Gail on Sep 4th:
JCO,
Mr. Hawking and I were very likeminded before I was a Christian. God turned me around 180 degrees in my former beliefs consistent with the Hawking and Sagan delusions. I used to think that Carl Sagan was one of the wisest men in the world, but now I know that he was deceived just as I was. My brain is not on ignore, but on behold as in the truth of God and His Word. The moment I believed by God's gift of faith, my eyes were opened to the truth and I knew that all of the lies I had believed were the bondage and I was free in Christ. My mind is now being renewed day by day in the truth of God's Word and I KNOW that when I die I will be present with the Lord. God loves you and He has given me a love for you and I continue to believe you will be in heaven with me and all of the other believers that come to this site to talk about our love for Christ and how He glorifies Himself in our lives. I am what I am today, not because of my worldly achievements of which as Paul stated in the book of Philippians I can boast but count
them but dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. May God continue to draw you to this site and to Christians wherever you go.
From Dublin on Dec 16th:
JCO this is the place for you. I'm glad that you have joined and are participating in the reading and in commenting. I pray that you will be someday blessed by what you read and by the actions and words of this spiritual community as well so that you can come to call our God your Savior as well.