Treasure

Don’t let your happiness depend on something that you may lose.

C.S. Lewis 

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 your heart will be also.

(Matthew 6:19-21)

Where is your heart? It is so easy to long for this world. There are many things in this world that cause us joy, but there are many things that cause us frustration and heartache as well.

Remember, if you can, the story of Lot’s wife. If you need a refresher course go home and read Genesis 19 this afternoon. In the story, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are so wicked that God decides to destroy them completely. In the whole region Scripture only records one person that God warned prior to the event, Lot.

Angels came to warn Lot and his family of the coming destruction. The family did not seem to want to leave the city. Finally, the angels compelled them to leave with the warning to not look back and feel sorry for the city. The warning is not one against glancing back. Rather, it involves a sadness for the city or a sense of remorse over what lifestyle is gone. As the family fled the city, Genesis records that Lot’s wife stopped to look back, with the consequences that she was turned into a pillar of salt.

We do not know the thoughts that were in her mind. She may have thought of the place of importance Lot had among the men of the city. She may have thought of the parties or festivals. We do not know. We do know that part of her looking back was a desire to be back there in the midst of it. She chose that which did not last, that which God was going to destroy.

It’s OK to take pleasure in this world. God made it for his glory and our enjoyment. However, we need to pay attention as to where we invest our heart!

Pastor Craig